The Eventide

[Dusk]

Tennstedt Base, Thuringia System
06.01.836 AS

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"Project "Eventide", entry two. Laying the foundation."

The man's voice, still firm and determined, began to take on the first hint of unease. Ashlander, having spent his entire life on the frontier, had seen a lot. From machines with a mind of their own to aliens glowing with an unsettling light, bent on the destruction of humanity. When such things become practically routine, you start to think nothing can ever make you raise your eyebrow. Yet humanity never fails to surprise.

"The girl returned from her expedition a few days back. Looked even more pale than usual. She brought back a bunch of data for the smart guys and a curious little thing for me. She said not to touch it for now."



"She also... gave me a task, which I completed in a fairly tight timeframe. Perhaps it was intentionally tight. She wanted to somewhat... modify her fighter. She personally supervised and participated in the process."

Sigh.

"It's not that the task was difficult... But I didn't understand why, at first. Uproot the stable and properly functioning mechanisms from this bird? The wiring? Make... Room? And then... Put practically identical, at first glance, things back."

The man coughed, paused, then inhaled deeply.

"I understood... Partly... When I saw the replacement. I understood the why, but not exactly what she was trying to achieve. Nominally, and in practice, these parts performed the same task as their predecessors. But the difference in them was still obvious. I'd never seen metal so... Slimy before. At first, I thought she'd smeared it in something, but no. This thing was whole... Something between good ol' metal and a piece of torn flesh."

Pause. He cleared his throat. A hexagonal, honeycomb-like texture was visible on the screen.

"There's little actual difference so far. This Anubis operates the same as before. Only the Hessian engine starts to look different, and ship leaves a slight red trail from its wings that slowly becomes more noticable. But the girl says this will supposedly make it easier for us to implement the future weapon prototype on her vessel."

The screen goes dark and footsteps are heard moving away.

"To hell with her. I'm too old to argue and interrogate people. It's better to spend the evening with a bottle of good Rheinland beer."

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