Are we ready to begin?
We are nine today. How rare.
Hold. We have an intruder.
. . .
Why are you on this channel... human? Do you wish to die?
Ha-ha! If I wanted to die, I'd do it. I want to work.
We are not a job placement agency.
Uh, duh. You're, like, the biggest network of assassins in the galaxy. And if there's one thing I've figured out, it's that even you guys don't dream very big.
We deal in precision-
You deal in keeping the status quo, instead of aiming for the biggest prizes. Instead of showing the galaxy that you can do more than pick off oddballs and idiots.
We know well of human ambitions. Your species is dangerous. Chaotic. Chaos is bad for business.
Do you know what else is bad for business? A lack of ambition. Take, for example, your little project on Bipaat Prime. Naughty-naughty business, scamming those poor primitive natives for their rare elements.
How do you know about that?
Trade secret. Just like I know there's so much more the Bipaati could do than dig for shiny rocks... But I'll leave you those little mysteries along with my job application.
>File Received - Decoding<
What is this? A volcanic eruption? That's hardly a rare event.
Little geology lesson for you: shield volcanoes don't tend to produce pyroclastic flows without a lot of water. The kind of water that might be present in, say, certain types of human construction equipment. The kind that lets you drop a lake wherever you want.
This is the Syzutash Grant Race... You detonated the volcano to kill your target?
Oh I didn't have any particular target... I detonated the volcano to kill them all. A humble show of what I'm capable of; if you point me in the right direction with the right kind of pay.
. . .
. . .
You have our attention for your... innovative approach.
But we do not trust you, human.
And yet... there are survivors. You failed to kill them all, thanks to the Human Paragon. The two Paragons participating in the race all survived, so you have yet to demonstrate your ability to seize a "biggest prize."
So what?
So... prove you can, human, and we will see how far you can go amongst us. Kill the Human Paragon.
What's the pay?
Consider it your... entry price.
. . .
Consider it done.
"¡Menos mal! Never again mija!" Cherry's exclamation followed Arin's huge sigh of relief.
The two of them, plus Thrisk, were seated in a lounge aboard the Star Vector, a human transport vessel the size of a four-story building. The whole vessely presently hosted only staff and Arin's team... which was two people at this point, not counting the hundred security guards spread throughout the vessel.
The three of them lounged on bean-bag style chair-pillows, with Thrisk looking particularly comfortable and happy as he sipped tea - sticking his beak into a pyramidal cup.
"I'm fine. We won, didn't we?" Arin said, having spent the last two hours watching the feeds from Syzutash's various news networks... which all featured five talking heads apiece.
The race had been declared a "Sacred Marker," whatever that meant, and the survivors had been declared to be equal winners in the "Second Grand Draw."
If Paragon X hadn't killed the zyr racer...
"A lesson that learnt,
is more valuable than
a mere shining pearl."
Thrisk chirruped at the end of his little bit of poetry.
"Haiku? Really? Arin almost died and you're making poetry?" Cherry scowled at him.
"It is a Paragon's prerogative to choose where they train and where they fight. Race sports are hardly a battlefield for Paragons, and it is a lot of area to cover, with a lot of potential for assassination attempts... assuming the eruption wasn't natural." He sipped. "Besides, I like the cadence of this rhyming scheme. It is like a slow, short song..."
Arin watched their exchange, which was all heat from Cherry and all cool from Thrisk, before finally raising her voice.
"What would you recommend then?" Arin addressed the bird-like alien.
"Combat sports of course. It's good for a Paragon to stick to what they are good at... unless there is some benefit otherwise." Thrisk looked aside for a long moment. "It would seem your Polity wishes to know if you'd be willing to divert to herat space, in order to challenge the Lorzha Corporate Authority for a second reclamation match."
Arin still felt energized from the incomplete race, so she didn't put much thought into it when she said, "Sure, whatever," before going back to thinking about what she'd learned of Paragon X.
They're magnetokinetic... just like me... no wonder they shut down my powers back then... But why reveal their powers? What's their game? Unless maybe they don't have magnetic powers... maybe they're a meta-mimic? Ugh, but that should mean they're weaker than me...
Paragon X certainly didn't seem weak, the way they shielded everyone at the end. They completely ignored Arin's attempts to interrogate them, and in frustration Arin had almost attacked, holding back only because everyone might have needed Paragon X holding up the walls to survive...
Stupid Arin... Stupid race. Stupid island with its "only racers allowed" bullshit...
"Wait-wait-wait," Cherry interjected, "I thought humanity was supposed to host when challenging. And what's with the turnaround? It's barely been any time since the last match."
"Apparently the Lorzha negotiated for neutral ground. It will, of course, be quite interesting to see if any other species are willing to bet on humanity's performance since this would be a standard five-life unrestricted capsule match."
"Did you put the Polity up to this?" Cherry accused.
"Oh stars no. I've simply been monitoring in my role as Proctor. They are the ones who suggested the Wager... By the way, the peoples of Syzutash wish to offer you a minor deification for your efforts in preventing a total wipeout of the race and its racers." The last was addressed to Arin.
"Oh, uh. Cool? What does that mean?"
"It means that you will have a statue of yourself placed in their famous Hall of Little Gods. A small one, about a third of one of your human meters in height."
"That... doesn't sound so bad. What would I be a little god of?"
"Sportsmanship in the face of certain death by volcano."
"But I didn't die... and that's a very specific role..."
"Shall I reply with your refusal?"
"No, no. Let them do what they want. Just, ah, tell them I don't answer prayers."
"Done. Now as to your next Wager, it's for the In-de-pen-dance System in thirteen of your Earth days. Did I say that right?"
"Eh, close enough." Arin vaguely knew what he was talking about, since it was the first of the ten human systems to fall, and thus the longest held under a government that was the philosophical opposite of the Polity.
"Wait, isn't that the one with the Death World?" Cherry asked.
"Indeed. A Class 6 Death World named... New Am-air... rye-ka?"
"Ay carajo. Wasn't it Class 5 a few weeks ago?"
"Apparently news of the Lyra system's liberation has sparked some... unsanctioned warfare from the population of that world. From what I am gathering from recent feeds, the Lorzha Corporate Authority may be eager to rid themselves of the world one way or another."
"Why a Wager then? Why not just give the system back?" Arin asked.
"Profits, of course," Thrisk said. "A Paragon duel will allow them to save some face and make some money on the way out, assuming they lose, of course."
"What happens if they win?" Arin asked. "They want Lyra or something?"
"The terms state that the system will be demolished, its worlds reduced to constituent elements and harvested... with only a span of about one and a half Earth-weeks to allow for purchasing of indentures only... Such a demolition would be more profitable for them given Lyra's lack of proximity to their systems. In the event of such a loss, humanity would foreswear any right to war or reparations against the Lorzha, which they would have the right to otherwise."
In other words, if Arin didn't win, it would be a slaughter...