Outer Rim - A Step of Faith
"Can you trust me?"
A heavy silence enveloped the cockpit at my question.
The only sound was the low hum of the engines. No one could easily open their mouths.
Bare faces, stripped of the bio-skins.
Bani and Lydia alternated glances between me and Eve, their eyes filled with confusion.
I swallowed dryly. My heart raced. It was a different kind of tension from battle.
'Truth is... even now, I'm not entirely sure if this is the right call.'
But the conversation I had with Eve yesterday, holding her hand—'They're all good people!'—had helped me take that single step forward.
"To be honest, I wasn't sure if I could fully trust you all. That's why I planned to deceive you to the end. I thought I'd keep wearing this fake face, find Bani's ship, get directions to Wild Space, and vanish."
It would have been the safest, most efficient way. For us, trust was a luxury, and others were potential enemies who could betray us at any moment.
"But... what changed my mind was what Eve said yesterday."
Eve glanced at me cautiously, then toddled over and clung tightly to my leg.
"Yesterday, I asked Eve what she liked best about coming to the Gray Market. I expected her to say delicious food or pretty clothes... but this kid said this."
Eve's big eyes looked up at me.
"That making two friends was the best thing."
Those words pierced my heart.
"I want to protect this child and let her grow up happy. But is deceiving and tricking her first friends the right thing to do?"
To be a guardian she could be proud of, I had to make a decision.
I looked at the two of them again and said,
"So I made up my mind. No more deceiving friends. Let's trust first. I'll tell you everything honestly."
I bowed deeply.
"I'm truly sorry for revealing my identity so suddenly like this and making you uncomfortable."
With my head lowered, I waited for their judgment.
This was a gamble.
Would my sincerity get through, or would we meet our end here?
A moment later, Bani's voice came.
"...For now, lift your head, Kal."
I slowly raised my head.
Bani was stroking his chin beard with a complicated expression, and Lydia was staring right through me, arms crossed.
Lydia spoke first.
"We'll hear you out first. What's the story? We'll judge after."
A chance was given.
I took a deep breath and began spilling the story I'd kept hidden until now.
Of course, I didn't tell them everything. That Eve was a xenoform queen, or about Nahibi's existence—that was a truth beyond what they could handle.
Instead, I focused on the human truth.
"We first met on X-41 Planet, in Apex Industries' secret lab."
I spoke calmly.
"Eve seems to have been a test subject. From a very young age."
Lydia's face hardened at the truth about Eve.
"At first, Eve was like an animal driven only by instinct. She couldn't speak, just fought against hunger. I thought it was right to abandon Apex's test subject Eve at first... but for some reason, I couldn't give up on her. It was my stubbornness."
I paused, stroking Eve as I recalled that choice.
"Ka~l!"
"Apex chased us to reclaim their asset Eve, fearing their dirty secrets would be exposed, and in the process, I killed the pursuers and escaped."
"Then Apex put a bounty on us, and since we couldn't hide in Federation space, we planned to head to Wild Space. That's our story up to here."
When I finished, silence fell again.
A heavy silence.
I clenched my fists. What would they say?
Call me a criminal? Feel disgust at the deception? Aim a gun and threaten to report us?
If so...
"Waaah...!"
Then, a sob burst out. Bani and I whipped our heads around in surprise.
"Our poor Eve... what are we gonna do..."
It was Lydia. Her eyes welled up, and she pulled Eve into a tight hug.
"Waaah! Those Apex bastards! I'll rip them apart! Experimenting on such a tiny, cute kid? They did unspeakable experiments, didn't they! I can't forgive them! No, I won't!"
She trembled with rage and sorrow, cursing Apex.
Sometime along the way, it became 'our Eve'... For her, Eve's identity as an Apex-chased test subject didn't matter. What mattered was whether Eve had been abused and hurt.
"Sis, Eve's okay!"
Eve, ever the sensible one, patted Lydia's back. Her tiny hand soothed Lydia.
"Thanks to you, I met Kal, and made a spider sis friend! I'll make lots more friends from now on. So don't cry."
"Waaah, Eve's so mature."
Lydia sobbed even harder at Eve's comfort.
"Yeah, let's do that. Forget all those bad memories, and make lots of good ones from now on! Sis will help. I'll make pretty clothes every day, buy yummy food, and chase off any bad guys—even if I have to beat them!"
"Yeah! Thanks!"
Eve beamed in Lydia's arms.
I turned to look at Bani. Lydia had accepted it emotionally, focused on Eve alone, but Bani's reaction was unpredictable.
His demeanor was deadly serious. His stern eyes narrowed, piercing me.
"...To be frank."
Bani opened his mouth.
"Demanding blind trust right after boarding my ship... yeah, that rubbed me the wrong way. Especially when our lives are in your hands."
"For that... I apologize again."
"Nah, not looking for an apology."
Bani tilted his head slightly.
"Kal."
"Yes."
"From now on, answer my questions with nothing but the truth. Any lies, and no trust will grow between us."
"Understood."
Bani stepped closer. His presence was intimidating.
"When you left that lab... did you kill any civilians?"
"No. There were no survivors there besides Eve."
"Good. Second question. Is your goal in taking us... to kidnap and sell us, or harvest our organs?"
"...Pardon?"
"Or throw us into some planet-scale battle royale? Or use us as hosts for alien parasites to breed more?"
Bani's questions grew more outlandish.
"Or implant chips in our brains to make us meat shields or slaves?"
"...No."
I answered with a weary expression.
What horrors had this man seen in the Outer Rim? Each question was too specific and gruesome.
Seeing my baffled face, Bani finally relaxed.
"Hmm. Your eyes don't lie..."
Bani let out a sigh of relief.
"That settles it. We might have secrets, but our goals are straight with each other."
He clapped my shoulder.
"You need a guide through Wild Space, and I need a strong escort to reclaim my ship. Right?"
"Right."
"Deal then. Your past doesn't matter—what matters is who's standing by my side now."
Bani's words were rough, but I felt his consideration.
"Well, still..."
Bani fiddled with his beard.
"Exploring costs a fortune in gear and fuel. Since my life's at risk because of you, some compensation's in order, eh?"
He trailed off, glancing not at me, but at Lydia, who was lavishing pets on Eve over there.
Lydia shot him a weary look. "No shame..."
"Heh, life's been too lean for that."
"Kal, how much's the bounty Apex put on you?"
"Two billion credits."
"Perfect. When we part in Wild Space, I'll pay you that much."
"I'll serve you well, Sponsor Lydia."
"..."
In the midst of this, angling for Lydia's cash—no, sponsorship. Bani was a top-tier explorer, alright.
Bani grinned, slinging his plasma rifle. I nodded with a hollow chuckle.
"Alright! Let's go, everyone. Time for the real ride."
We'd reached an agreement.
Docking complete, we began moving the luggage.
Lydia's containers alone nearly filled the Night Raven's cargo hold, built for a freighter.
'Really lucky.'
Slurp.
Nahibi, stuck to my back, peeled off while speaking, hid among the moving luggage, and boarded the Night Raven.
Watching Bani and Lydia haul boxes, I sank into thought for a moment.
What if they'd refused? What if they'd turned hostile and drawn guns?
'So glad it didn't come to hurting them. Eve almost got sad.'
I unclenched my fists, wiped the sweat. Worst case averted. Now, full speed ahead to the best.
Lydia went below to the cabins with Eve to unpack, leaving just me and Bani on the bridge. Bani marveled at the Night Raven's modified panels.
"Whoa... Looks like a rough transport from outside, but inside it's better than most ships. Output's no joke."
"She's an old friend."
We double-checked the route.
"But Kal, one issue."
Bani pointed at the monitor with a grave face.
"This ship's ID code, the Night Raven's. It's already wanted all over the Outer Rim. We'll get swarmed by pirates and bounty hunters at every stop. Got a fix?"
"..."
"Once the ID pings, they'll come like dogs. Figured you disguised it before hitting Gray Market, since you'd been through that."
Bani was spot on. All Federation ships had built-in unique IDs—like DNA etched into the hull.
"What's the plan?"
"Don't worry."
I stood and opened the cover on the main panel below the pilot's seat.
Amid tangled wires, a red-blinking hexahedron device gleamed.
[Federation Standard Ship Identifier]
"Wait, Kal? What..."
I reached out without a word and gripped the identifier.
Crack—Crunch!
"...?!"
Bani's eyes bulged.
I crushed the alloy-protected device barehanded. Circuits mangled, sparks flew. The red light died.
I tossed the scrap to the floor.
"No more ID from scans now."
"Whoa..."
Smashing the ID meant renouncing Federation citizenship—a qualification we no longer needed, set on joining the xenoform ranks. Ships without IDs were ghost ships, even pirates avoided them. Bani seemed overwhelmed by the raw strength that crumpled solid alloy with grip alone.
"Your resolve... I see it clear."
Bani grinned awkwardly, wiping sweat.
"And I snagged a prime mercenary. Seeing that crushed barehanded? Strongest augmented human I've laid eyes on."
"It's nothing."
I meant it. Compared to the real monster aboard, it was zilch.
But Bani took it differently.
"Humble, eh? No wonder the two-billion bounty—makes perfect sense, criminal."
Bani bellowed a laugh. I laughed with him. No turning back now.
"Let's launch, Bani."
"Aye! To Nox-4 Planet! Time to find my Nomad!"
The Night Raven's engines roared to life again.