"Impossible!" Cecilia gapped, utterly flummoxed. Stella, the silly indie vTuber Rose adored, was literally her avatar? Someone wasn't puppeting her with motion capture?
"It's true. I'm not human. Please don't tell anyone." The cartoon girl lifted a finger to her lips. She gave an exaggerated, conspiratorial wink.
"Why is this my life now?" Sandage rubbed his temple, appearing ready to cry.
"Hmm. You did not prepare me for this surprise, Macauley," Petrus said, eying the vTuber with immense curiosity.
"No wonder we couldn't trace you," Sandage said. "Your trail didn't exist in the physical world."
"How? Why? Where do you even come from? Are you an AI?" Questions spilled from Cecilia's lips like a leaking pipe.
Cecilia stared, mesmerized, as Stella shook a disapproving finger at them. "Now, that I can't tell you."
"What?! You said no more secrets!" Cecilia said, temper flaring.
"Yes, we deserve some answers, Stella," Sandage's words were sharp as daggers. "What is your intent for humanity?"
"Hey, a girl has her secrets. It's rather rude to demand them from me," the VTuber said playfully. "And please, call me Macauley. That's my real name."
"What about our deal?!" Cecilia shot back.
"This might be hard to accept, but please believe I have humanity's best interest in mind. I love humanity!" Macauley replied.
"That's hard to believe," Sandage said, crossing his arms.
"Always the skeptic, Sandage, but I suppose I can't blame you. You are former FBI. It's your job to distrust people. Then I will help you understand my motive. I have two reasons to help you defeat the Altair. The first one you might call selfish. Humanity is the universe's first line against the Altair. If they break into our universe, they'll spread like an infection until they consume everything. We can't afford them to gain any foothold in this universe."
"Makes sense," Sandage admitted. "The Altair are a threat to your people too, whoever they are. And the other?"
"With the stakes so high, I'd be foolish to throw away such a powerful potential ally. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the human saying goes."
"I'll accept that, for now," Sandage said. "While I don't trust you, Macauley, we need each other. Are there others like you on my planet?"
"No. I'm by my lonesome," Macauley replied. "Guarding humanity has been my responsibility for many years. Consider me as your guardian angel!"
"So we can't depend on your people's help, then." Cecilia said, brow furrowing. Or did they even exist? Macauley hadn't outright said they exist.
Sandage rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Washington will love this. What are your kind called, Macauley?"
"It's unpronounceable. Don't worry about it," Macauley replied, her tone sly.
"We must call you something!" Sandage said, losing his temper.
"Like I said, don't worry about it. Onto business!" Macauley explained her detailed plan to rid Rose of the Altair infection and its potentially lethal consequences. "What do you think of my proposal for saving Rose?"
Sandage gritted his teeth but regained his composure. "I'll have my people look into it. It won't be easy to approve. You're asking a lot."
"I realize that," Macauley said, her tone forlorn. "But I warn you, the Altair won't take their general's death lying down. They'll retaliate soon."
---
"More questions." Cecilia released a frustrated sigh as they departed the apartment building. She shared an umbrella with Sandage, huddling up close to him. To an observer, they'd appear like father and daughter. "I thought bringing Macauley out in the open would solve some mysteries, but it's only created more!"
"True, but we've gained some answers." Sandage wore a slight smile. "It's a victory in my book."
"Yeah, but now everything's so much more confusing!" And Cecilia was still furious that Macauley had reneged on their deal. She'd revealed less than she'd promised and complained as much to Sandage.
"It's fine. It's enough for now. I have to admit, how you handled the situation impressed me."
"Really?"
"You're a hard negotiator. A talent that'll serve you well if you go into a future career in business." Sandage's comment earned a blush from Cecilia.
"Still, I'm surprised you allowed her identity to stay hidden for so long. Why didn't you drag it out of her?"
"I was fine with Macauley keeping her identity secret because I didn't want to push our mysterious ally further than she was comfortable with. I was content to wait patiently, gathering what I could from an occasional careless word. No one can remain vigilant forever. She'd make a mistake, and I'd use that to discover her identity. Though, this recent revelation makes me realize that was more difficult than I originally presumed."
"Oh, shoot. I didn't mean to mess up your plans," Cecilia said, realizing she'd disrupted his operation by accident.
But Sandage only laughed. "Don't worry about it. Though, I'm not looking forward to telling my superiors about this. Not that my reports don't already sound like the ravings of a madman. I miss the days I was investigating white-collar crimes and the occasional terrorist plot. Life seemed so much simpler back then."
This earned a smile from Cecilia. After her horrible last few days, it felt nice to smile again. "Too right! Still, will you try Macauley's experiment? I'm not hopeful it'd even work."
"That's not in my hands. People much smarter than I will discuss its prospects. While Rose's coma is keeping the Altair infection at bay, it's slowly spreading across her. The doctors informed me that Rose has only two weeks to live unless a cure is found."
"Oh." Cecilia's mood darkened, her chest aching in pain. Macauley's ill-begotten plan seemed like an impossibly long shot.
Much to her surprise, Sandage's strong arms pulled her into a tight hug. "Hey, Rose isn't gone yet. We'll find a way through this."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better." Adults often told lies like that, reassuring them with empty promises.
But the LUVOLT agent gave an emphatic shake of the head. "I'm telling you this because we must hold onto the hope Rose will survive. I'm not giving up on her, and neither should you. While the situation might seem bleak, that's no reason to give up. No, it's important to fight harder than ever. I won't let Altair win, nor let Rose perish. Neither should you."
"Okay." Cecilia clutched Sandage's arm, using his strength to bolster hers.
---
"Well, that was something," Petrus said as they watched their visitors leave.
"You're taking my real identity rather well," The vTuber said, eyeing her companion curiously. "There's far less spluttering and stammering than I expected. I thought you might even declare that I was lying." It was one reason she disliked revealing herself. Humans had funny ideas of what they constituted as real. Total denial of the reality of the situation wasn't completely unheard of.
"I figured it might be something weird like this. That agent wasn't the only one who tried tracking you. I even hired a private eye. What he found? Nothing. You'd think a person would leave some visible trail. While I'm surprised, this revelation didn't seem out of the realm of possibility."
"You're an interesting guy, Petrus." It was one reason Macauley had approached him.
"Still, will they go for it?" Petrus asked. "LUVOLT has the world's best minds, but they'll debate themselves into inaction."
"Not an unlikely possibility." On her screen, Macauley's avatar crossed her arms, eyes closed in thought. She'd have to devise a way to get them moving. Still, she had faith they'd act. Rose was blessed. Many people cared and loved her. Besides, that girl was a survivor.
"Sorry, but I must get going. The wife doesn't know I'm here. With all this skulking about, I'm worried she'll think I'm having an affair with another woman."
"Don't worry about that." Macauley gave him a wink. "I have no interest in making any moves on you. I'm a rather solitary lady by nature."
This earned a chuckle from Petrus. The disgraced scientist moved to depart, but paused as he caught Macauley's change in expression. "Is something the matter?"
"Odd," Macauley accessed a program she'd hidden in a top-secret listening post up in Washington State. With the impending Altair invasion, the government had increased its interest in listening to space. "Fascinating."
"What is it?"
"I'm not sure. A satellite has picked up odd signals from outer space." Macauley scanned the report again. Because of the station's automation, she was the first to read these reports. She displayed the report in a text box on her screen. "Take a glance."
Petrus adjusted his glasses and read the text on the screen. "It's just jumbled noise, isn't it?"
But Macauley tapped her chin. "No, it isn't random. These signals have mathematical formulas baked into them. Someone is trying to communicate."
"The Altair? Your people?" Petrus asked, studying the signals with a more careful eye.
"Doubtful," Macauley said, growing more excited. "This is someone completely new!"
"Possible alien allies?" Petrus stared at Macauley. "Have they noticed the Altair invasion and wish to help?"
"We'll have to find out," Macauley said, beaming. In her head, she planned what message she'd beam back to them. There were risks, of course. The aliens might have ill intentions, but the Earth was already in serious trouble. Extending an olive branch might be just what they needed.
"Will you tell Sandage about this?"
"Not yet. Not until I can make clear communication with our new friends." Though her efforts to send her own signal might attract attention. Oh, well. She wished to speak with these alien visitors first.
Eagerness bubbled in Macauley. What were they like? What language did they speak? Could they develop a common ground for communication? The mathematical principles were a start. She couldn't wait to learn more.
---
In the void, time was immaterial. It was a place of utter silence. To even beings like the Altair, it was maddening. They hibernated for this reason. But to Tarazed, the void's silence was exhilarating. It was devoid of any distractions, allowing pure focus on the goal ahead.
"Welcome." Tarazed sensed the two minds probing him, allowing them to interrupt his contemplation.
"We have headed your call, General," Denebokab said with his usual respectful poise. His presence was a black thunderclap, a powerful rumble in the hive mind.
But Tseen Foo spoke with less respectful defiance, more intrigued than anything. In contrast, Tseen Foo was a pink song that flittered and swayed like a falling leaf on a windy day. "What's this about? I was having the most fantastic dream! And you were there, Tarazed, demanding I stack blocks into a tower. It was stressful. You yelled at me when they kept toppling over."
Tarazed ignored Tseen Foo's usual ramblings and continued. "Okab has fallen." This declaration brought a twang of sadness to his brethren, dampening their color in the collective. "I have called you because we must eradicate Rose of the Red Devil, whatever the cost. You will assist me in this."
"And the Grand Intelligence told you to bring us along?" Tseen Foo didn't hide his doubt. "You're pushing your duties onto us, Tarazed."
"While the Grand Intelligence wishes to avoid risking our brethren unnecessarily, this is a worthy goal. The lower hive buzzes with rumors about Rose of the Red Devil. She is evil incarnate." Denebokab said. "Your choice to include me in your plan, General, honors me!"
"What a butt-kisser," Tseen Foo replied, exasperated.
"What did you say?" Denebokab's presence within the hive mind became venomous, injecting red into his usual black cloud.
Before an argument could break out, Tarazed spoke first. "For the hive's sake, Rose must die. We must crush humanity before it becomes a bigger threat. They have already developed a counteragent against us—one capable of stripping an Altair from the hive mind."
"Impossible." The other two Altair recoiled in shock. Such a possibility was inconceivable to them.
"You understand the mission's importance," Tarazed said. "The mission needs your skills as hunter drones. I wouldn't ask this of anyone else."
"Understood," Denebokab's black regained its color, deepening as his resolve hardened.
"Count me in," Tseen Foo said, anger expanding like a bubble within his pink. While prone to goofing around, the hunter was both skilled and ruthless. He'd stop at nothing to complete a job. "Rose of the Red Devil is dead."
"Excellent," Tarazed replied, pleased. He could trust these two to fulfil this difficult mission. "We leave right away. But we won't attack immediately. We will determine the most efficient way to eliminate Rose and her allies. Then we will destroy them before they even understand what's happening to them."
The two hunters nodded their agreement, eager to fulfill their assignment. Pleasure filled Tarazed, pleased to have such capable assistance. He would learn from Okab's mistakes. Humanity would crumble to dust, and then the Altair would feed unopposed.