Salvagers - SoundSage

Orion arrived at the bridge and surveyed the room they spent most of their waking hours in. On the far side of the room, light poured down from the windows in the upper area. The faint sound of Helio’s tapping on the consoles drifted across the room, accompanied by beeps and hums bouncing off the exposed metal walls from the computers hard at work keeping The Chimera afloat. Two sets of stairs descended from the control station above on either side of the platform.

In the lower area of the bridge sat the large circular meeting table Orion had custom ordered specifically for The Chimera when The Dynamos upgraded to a new ship six months ago in order to take on apprentices. Orion ran a hand along the four-meter-wide ring of hard lacquered black wood carved from a single slice ebony tree from the Jain mountains. Twelve matching stools with low backs and leather seats were mounted to the floor around the perimeter of the table. They had been coated in a black shell so they matched the ebony table.

Orion sat in their chair at the head of the table; their back to the wall that rose to the upper area where the unaware Helio went about their work. In front of each seat, a console was mounted onto the table along the inner edge. Orion reached forward and swiped three fingers from top to bottom across the screen, which responded by lighting up and flashing the words Welcome Back Orion. A sound like the chime of a vibraphone cooed from the monitor as the words faded and the screen switched to the main navigation menu.

“Orion, is that you? You scared me half to death!”

“Good morning, Helio,” Orion said warmly. “Are the revised excursion debrief log templates prepared for this evening?”

“Uh yeah… wait I’m in the middle of something. I’ll be right down!” Helio called out from the upper deck. Orion pressed a couple of buttons and the hologram projector flickered to life, projecting the three-dimensional map of the area along with a mini Chimera flying at the center — the terrain slowly scrolling below as the ship soared by.

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Nico stared at their closet and thought, What to wear today? The black jumpsuit with the mock neck, or the black jumpsuit with leather straps? What a difficult decision! Eventually, they grabbed a third option — a black jumpsuit with a plunging-v neckline — and zipped it onto their body. “That’s the ticket!” they said to themself.

Meanwhile, Fig stared at the mirror and blinked. Her long blonde hair retreated back into her scalp forming a cropped shaggy mullet. Her jaw sharpened and her brow bone protruded slightly. Her shoulders widened and her bust receded and became more muscular. He looked in the mirror and ran his fingers across the dark blonde stubble on his cheek. Shaking his head, Fig blinked once more and undid the transformations. And then blinked back and forth a few more times switching between the forms quickly.

Juniper burst through the door to the bridge and announced, “I have a good feeling about today! The Night Market is going to be a success, I can feel it in my bones.” She rushed across the room and flung herself into the chair to the left of Orion, her braid swinging behind her like a tail. “You and me partner, we are gonna find something great for this team to do next. Our next gigs will be fruitful!”

“I do not doubt it,” Orion said, briefly meeting Juniper’s gaze and smiling warmly before returning their attention to the map. They tapped a few icons on the console and the map zoomed out so that both The Chimera and The Dynamo’s destination — The Night Market of Calendula — were in view; a red dotted line depicting the ship’s trajectory.

Salem then arrived at the bridge, turning on their sense to scan the room to see who was there and how they were feeling. Both Orion and Juniper had a golden aura about them — happy and excited. Salem saw the outline of Helio across the way; orange — a little anxious. “Hello everyone, the clouds were exceptionally fluffy today, did you see?!” As Salem walked across the room, they opened their mind and telepathically communicated to Helio, Hey, come on down now. I’m sure the log templates are fine. There is nothing to worry about, come join us.

Roger that! Helio responded in his mind. He hit print on the log template and 12 copies spat out of the printer. He grabbed them and walked down the stairs. Salem sat down next to Juniper and engaged their console. Helio sat on the other side of Orion, holding the papers tight with both hands in their lap. It was then that Mimi entered the room, and sat down on the other side of Salem.

“Good morning everyone! I hope you all slept well. Did anyone see anything interesting while exploring your dreamscapes?” she inquired. Mimi felt a large hand grip her shoulder and looked up to see Delta’s mustachioed face. She beamed as he sat down next to her. Vesper gracefully slipped into his seat directly across from Delta next to Helio, who relaxed his grip on the stack of papers and placed them on the tabletop.

Nico stepped into the hall and took a left. The sound of their boots on the cool metal sent reverberations down the corridor. They got to the stairs and swung down and around the banister reaching the lower level. “Heeyyy! Are any of you kids heading to the bridge? Wanna walk together?”

Fig had opted to blink a few more times in rapid succession when they heard Nico’s voice down the hall. Eyes shut, Fig opened the door to the hallway and said, “Nico, yes, hi! I’m here. I’m ready.”

“Looking quite dapper today. Boy Fig is always so cute with that little curly mop of yours!”

“You know I don’t like it when you call me Boy Fig and Girl Fig. I’m always just Fig,” he said plodding down the hall to the stairs.

“I know, I’m just messing with you. Just Fig.” Nico put their arm around Fig’s shoulder and gave a quick squeeze. “I just wish you would try the no-hair look like me; you’ve got the head shape for it,” Nico proclaimed as they ran their fingers adorned with black dagger-like nails across their smooth scalp. “ I can just tell! Race you to the bridge?”

“You’re on!”

Juniper rose and walked hurriedly across the bridge. “One of them is going to get hurt, I can just feel it. And we don’t need to replace this door again.” She swung the door inward just as Fig and Nico were about to barge through. The two of them fell to the ground in a pile of giggles.

“I’d say that’s a tie, wouldn’t you all?” Vesper said to the room. Fig and Nico burst out laughing. Salem couldn’t help but smile a little. Fig and Nico stood up. Fig rubbed his left hand and rotated his wrist, a shock of pain across his face. Delta and Mimi were too busy prodding at their consoles to look up until Vesper called out, “Delta, I think Fig got hurt, can you two Defenders check it out?” Fig took his arm over to Delta and Mimi, who gave it a once over before deciding it wasn’t critical and sending him to his seat two to the left of Delta’s.

Paying little mind to the ruckus across the room, Orion said to Helio, “Where’s Ash and Bo? And Imogen! Call for them, won’t you?”

Helio tapped the side of their headset and spoke into the microphone, “Bo and Ash; Good morning, Angels! Your presence is requested on the bridge. Don’t be late, got it?” Helio looked over at Orion who raised an eyebrow expectantly. “Oh yes, and Imogen, can you get up here too if it’s not too much trouble. Thank you, Imogen. Thanks!”

Bo shot up like a rocket, his curly ringlets exploding off of his head in all directions. He jumped from his mossy linen-covered bed across the room onto Ash’s flaming quilt. She was still sleeping and the two of them needed to get upstairs now. He shouted and shook her to no avail. So, Bo did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed the half-full glass of water from the side table and dumped it onto Ash’s face, recoiling immediately knowing this would not garner a peaceful reaction from Ash.

Her eyes opened immediately and she gave a furious screech looking around in confusion. She saw Bo sitting on her bed, but before she could yell anymore, Bo said, “Come on, we’re late! Do you want Orion mad at us again?” Ash quieted herself and shook her head, slicking back the shock of hair on the top of her head away from her face.

“Let’s get dressed. But don’t dump water on me again, kid. Got it?” Ash grabbed a red jumpsuit and orange leather sandals. She took one moment to look out the window as she sprayed a little too much of an acrid cologne onto her form. She waited in the doorway as her younger roommate, no longer a child but not quite an adolescent got dressed

“Sir, yes sir!” Bo said, throwing on a green sweater and some brown shorts, almost running out of the room barefoot. Ash held out an arm and pointed at Bo’s feet. Bo quickly threw on some sandals. The two of them sprinted down the hall and up the stairs, barely able to catch their breath. As they hit the final landing before the stairs that led up to the bridge, a pair of hands grabbed them by the collars and stopped them in their tracks.

Imogen, tall with deep skin and hair twisted into locks held back by a purple headband, stood over the two young ones. Imogen let go of Ash and Bo’s shirts and breathed out loudly through her lips. Raising her arms into the air, with a knit shawl dangling over her shoulders, Imogen said, “Alright, breathe in.” Ash and Bo closed their eyes and inhaled. “That’s right, hold it at the top. And release. Good.” All three of them exhaled in unison. They then breathed in and out a few more breaths before opening their eyes and looking at each other.

“We are calm, cool, and collected, yes?” Bo and Ash nodded in agreement. Imogen led them up the stairs and through the doors into the bridge. “We’re all here, no need to fuss. These two were just with me finishing up some experiments on the wands we found in the Humming forest. Shall we start?” Imogen said smiling at Orion and Juniper.

Imogen then sat down between Delta and Fig. Nico was seated to Fig’s left. Into the seat next to Nico slid Bo, who immediately began to fiddle with the touch screen console. And finally, Ash sat between Bo and Vesper, completing the circle.

Orion nodded to Helio who said, “The time is now 04:29! Great job being on time everyone. That’s got to be a record. Shall we begin?” Helio looked up and Orion who smiled warmly in approval.