Derin Edala

Next AMA character is: Mae!

$10+ patrons, get your questions in by the end of the month!

038: NERVES

The crew gather in the medbay once more. Only half of us have done much actual physical labour today, but weariness shows on everyone’s faces. It’s clear that we’re all quite sick of random crises blindsiding us. Adin’s eyes are slightly glassy from whatever painkillers the doctors have g...

4.84: Trojan

I was folding hospital gowns when Malas came up behind me. “Kayden.”

“Huh?” I quickly caught the stack of gowns I’d pushed over when I jumped and turned around.

“I’ve sent you some introductory materials on human anatomy. Watch and read them. We’ll discuss the contents...

Patreon bonus -- exceprt from one of Aspen's books

From Africa to the Stars – further thoughts on the Exodus Phenomenon by Dr Aspen Greaves

Introduction

Of all the traits almost unique to the human animal, perhaps the most interesting is travel. Of course, we’re not the only species to travel b...

4.83: The Vessel

“Are you going to eat today or what?” Kylie called from her bed.

“In a bit. I want to finish this notebook.” I was continuing the tedious task of photographing all of Max’s notes, in case the notebooks ended up confiscated or something and actually contained something important. I...

037: MODIFY

“We’re in space! I’m not cutting a hole in his space suit!”

“He’ll die if you don’t.”

“Aspen, please.” The Friend’s voice is gentle. “This plan isn’t great, but we don’t have time to come up with a better one, and we probably don’t have time to explain.�...

4.82: Interrogation

Talbot’s party didn’t run too long, which was good, because we were busy. Kylie had to do homework, and I had to lord over her the fact that I didn’t have any homework.

We’d barely settled in when there was a knock at the door. Kylie leapt up, answered it, and froze. “Can I help y...

Ask Me Anything 6 -- Cheryl Castor

Has it been hard to unlearn/stop practicing rituals to ward off curses?

Oh, yes. I still carry a few charms around with me.

What is your worst fear?

Well, catching fire again is probably a big one. Or having my curse kill me in some other way. 2023-01-08 09:19:36 +0000 UTC View Post

4.81: Catching Up

“Are you ready?” Kylie called to me through my bedcurtains.

“I can’t find my sash,” I replied.

“Your what?”

“My sash. For my robes. I swear I had it when I did laundry.”

“There’s your problem; you’re still doing your own laundry. Clearly you lost it...

036: HEIGHTS

Beyond the little safety wall, we have about two metres of clearance before the solid floor of the javelin shielding’s end cap gives way to the grid of straight bars that supports the electrostatic shield. When hauling a body in a bulky space suit around, that’s not a whole lot of clearance. ...

4.80: Impressions

Learning to pick locks probably wasn’t worth my time, I decided, because I almost immediately thought of something better. Before my next shift, I went to the school store and poked around until I found something suitable for my needs – a little tub of quick-drying putty that would solidify a...

4.79: Found Family

Josh’s party was relaxed a casual in a way that I had not come to expect, from mage parties. It was held in a small classroom, with a cake and some snacks, and a handful of tacky paper decorations half-heartedly scattered around the walls. Most of the dozen or so people present were just wearin...

4.78: The Magic Wall

“Kayden.”

“Hmm?” I looked up from the syringes I was cataloguing at Dae-hyun, one of Malas’ older apprentices. I’d been an apprentice for about two weeks before Malas paired me with Dae-hyun and told me to learn from him. I was still just cleaning and cataloguing stuff, but now ...

035: MORALE

“Are we sure this’ll work?” Adin asks.

I look down at the hospital bed. The seven of us are crammed into the small medbay, and the bulky space suit on the bed makes it feel even smaller than usual. There’s a body in the suit, one of the dead crew or colonists from one of the freezer...

4.77: Power And Portals

Kylie recovered quickly. It seemed like her spell was perfectly content once I was back in range, and she just needed a bit of rest. I… wasn’t so lucky.

Since getting back on campus, I’d been experiencing random bouts of nausea and tingling. They felt like familiarity spell problems, ...

4.76: A Tightening Leash

Two days before the holidays, Jamil asked me to take him back to the lake. We used one of my rock climbing lines to keep him anchored in the water while the tentacles did their work.

“You feel any different?” I asked him after he’d dried off and we were heading back to the main school...

Behind the Keyboard -- The Coven

034: COMORBIDITY

“Dear Lord in heaven,” Tinera mumbles around a mouthful of greenhouse beans, “I forgot what eating real food was like.”

“I didn’t even know you could sautee with moss oil,” Lina says, stabbing a bean with a fork. “But this came out really well.”

“You can sautee wit...

4.75: Blood And Paper

Clearly the ‘use English for the initiates’ portion of the meeting was over, because Malas spoke in Ido. “The decision to terminate kylie’s contract was sneaky and unlawful in the first place,” he said. “Given the new events that have transpired since the decision was made, I once aga...

4.74: Uncompromising

Wait, she was accusing Max of what? I opened my mouth to protest, but Hua put a hand on my arm and shook her head, sharply. I stayed quiet.

“Mr Acanthos acted in self defense – ”

“You’re the one who called him a murderer a few minutes ago,” Cheryl said mildly. “...

033: PREDICAMENT

Four of us – me, the Friend, Lina, and Tal – stroll toward Recreation and Medical Ring 2 at a leisurely pace while Tinera runs off to find the boys. I’m not sure why we need the entire crew for this, but apparently my ignorance on the whole Texan prisoner thing is a big deal for some reason...

4.73: Political Assassination

I’d expected some exasperation from the Council. Some comments about the interruptions getting ridiculous. But there was silence, when Malas entered.

I looked back. All nine of them had stood up. Even Alania.

“Kuracar,” the Grand Master said.

“Grand Master,” Malas said...

4.72: Public Relations

“What’s going on?” Instruktanto Cooper asked.

“We’re being yelled at by teenagers,” Alania explained.

“Oh. Slow work week?”

“Taine, why are you here?” the Grand Master asked.

“I received an anonymous notification that my students were in a hearing. As...

Ask Me Anything 5 -- the Public Universal Friend

Were you born, and raised a Friend, or did the philosophy, and way of life call to you as you grew up?

Nobody is born and raised a Friend. The Public Universal Friends do not have tribal ties, so we do not raise children. This would be a violation of our code in all but the...

032: CONVICTION

Everything about this situation makes less and less sense. Why would Denish be deconstructing a device from Da-bin’s body? And why would he lie about it? The idea that the device is from her body isn’t hard to accept; lots of people have implants. I’d assumed, when I saw Tal analysing it fo...

4.71: Faith in Leadership

The chamber felt different this time. The room itself was the same – huge, mostly empty, leaving us stranded in a vast space in the middle of the room, with an absurdly high table at the opposite end so that even at a distance, we were forced to look upward to see the hooded Council Masters –...

4.70: Skin Deep

I took Malas up on his offer to drop by any time for training the very next day. I didn’t know how old Malas was, exactly, but he’d worked in a service job for the school for a really, really long time. Since Alania was a student, at the very least, and she was old enough to be my grandma. He...

4.69: A New Binding

“Maybe it’s like the Lake of Inquisition,” I suggested, “and you can only get to the service corridors if you have, like, access.” I pulled up a handful of green grass and let it drift through my fingers. We were back in the valley again, away from the school crystals and the janitors, ...

031: CONSPIRACY

I think the crew are hiding something.

And I know how that sounds, okay? I know. I’m very well aware that paranoia is an extremely common symptom of all kinds of stress-induced mental illnesses. I know that there are all kinds of things on this ship that can very, very easily cause parano...

4.68: Stalking

“What does any of this mean?” I asked.

Kylie shrugged. “It might still be a coincidence. They might not be involved.”

“How could they possibly not be involved at this point?”

“Maybe it’s just protocol. If anyone ends up in the Labyrinth of Dreams, maybe it’s pr...