Valerie Chambers's Story

"I don't want to upset you, Vallen," the girl said in a small voice while setting down her wine glass. Her soft hand found the boy's cheek and Valerie attempted to get him to look her in the eye.

"I care a lot about you and it hurts me to see you so angry, scared, and lost. Are you sure you want to take revenge? An evil man always gets what is coming to him, especially in a cruel city as this one," Valerie said to him.

"Of course," Valerie said while slipping from her seat. She grabbed her leather jacket and helmet in one hand and threaded her fingers of the other with Vallen's.

"Let's go home," Valerie said before leading him upstairs.

Pheira froze where she stood, her muscles going entirely ridged. Only her ears moved around, alert.

Valerie never told her that Vallen was dangerous. She never even had come close to describing him that way. Panic washed through Pheira. Maybe this was the wrong man? But no, the photo had been so clear and this was obviously him. Perhaps it had been the loss of Valerie or all the lies that Daedalus wrapped around him.

It was most likely the latter.

"You knew-" Pheira shook her head. "You know someone very important to me and I need your help in getting her back," the scion pleaded. Even talking about Valerie brought tears to her eyes but Pheira was not going to allow herself to cry.

"Yeah," Pheira scoffed. "She really knows how to choose them. My sister has stuck out her neck so many times just to keep you alive. You have no right! No right! If you knew half the things she's done for you, you would never speak about her that way!"

The wind began to kick up violently and unnaturally around the two. Out of thin air a helicopter appeared. It was shiny and black and written across it in white letters was two words: Daedalus Enterprises.

Pheira's ears flattened across her skull and she bared her teeth. It last two seconds before her expression fell into hopelessness.

"Vallen!" Valerie screamed from the open hatch before her mouth was covered by Eris Driscoll.

"Valerie!" Pheira called helplessly from the ground. "Vallen do something!"

"Give us your father and you can have the girl back," Eris said, her voice magnified over the drone of the helicopter by some sort of megaphone.

Pheira stood there in shock unable to move, to blink, to breathe. All she could do was stare in horror, afraid that her sister was about to die. Pheira's fists clenched so tight her palms began to drip blood.

The metal of the helicopter screamed and Valerie was jerked out of Eris's grip. She scrambled for the bar and just barely her fingers caught purchase.

"Useless," Eris said, teeth gritted together. She raised a foot intent on smashing her heel down on Valerie's foot but the helicopter jerked. A whirring, clicking, mechanical contraption skittered up Eris's sleeve and a rift into a void was opened.

Eris locked hateful but calm eyes onto Vallen before disappearing into the void. It closed immediately after. The pilot struggled for control while Valerie clung for her very life by a few fingers.

Pheira ran toward the helicopter, unsure of what she could do but at least it was something.

Pheira all but collasped onto her sister making sure that Valerie was unharmed. When the helicopter exploded in the woods, both women stopped their fussing and watched as the smoke plume spiraled into the air.

The pilot shook his head, clawing at his helmet. He struggled against the invisible force imprisoning him. It was futile. The pilot knew that he was not going to be released.

The man's chin quivered and then he bit down on something. The pilot began to convulse even more in Vallen's grip and foam at the mouth.

He was dead within seconds.

Several hours ago Pheira had left when Valerie decided to speak to Vallen alone. It was for the best. They had not seen each other in months and the way they had parted ...

She had some explaining to do.

Valerie followed Vallen silently. She ghosted his steps and prayed the anger would disappate in him somewhat.

It was when they reached the ruins that Valerie no longer could hold her tongue.

"Vallen," she called. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that Bianca and Jeremy were with Daedalus. I didn't know they would betray us ... I didn't know ..." Valerie's violet eyes filled with tears and she clenched her jaw so that she would not start crying. Crying would not solve anything at this point.

Valerie flinched as the window shattered. She was panicking on the inside now that she had no idea what to do with Vallen. He was acting so strange. Valerie had never before seen him like this and it was alarming.

What was even more alarming was the fact that she even cared.

"And then when they are all dead, what are you going to do then?" Valerie asked. Her vision started to swim from the building tears. Valerie tore her gaze away from Vallen and turned her back to him.

She didn't want him to see her cry.

"Is that really how you feel," Valerie asked in a small voice. Her fists were clenched so tightly that the knuckles of her hands turned bone white. A piece of her was breaking and Valerie could not understand why she was feeling the way she did.

"If that is really how you feel ... I will go and I will never come back. You will never see me again," Valerie said as she turned and looked at him, square in the eye.

"I promise."

"You'll need to find The Archive. She's transformed. Even Daedalus doesn't know where it went. When you find it, you'll need to ask it where the ley lines meet on Terra. When you find that out, you'll know what Daedalus wants ..."

"Good luck," Valerie said as she looked at the pieces of shattered glass on the ground. She felt a kinship with the pieces, knowing exactly how forlorn their existence truly was in that moment.

There was no purpose for either.

It was a beautiful day; a perfect day some would say. The sun was shining, warming the air but a breeze blew past subtley to cool down the heat. The sounds of the lake's waves beating against the shore was comforting to Valerie's ears. It was like listening to the heartbeat of Terra.

It was odd to find such a peaceful place so close to Wing City. But peace is what she needed after Vallen had all be abandoned her. Daedalus had told her that he didn't care. That he and she were incapable of the love both wished to grow between them. A Scion did not love. Vallen was killing her.

And yet, Valerie could not help her feelings.

Valerie brushed those dangerous thoughts from her mind and checked her watch. She was waiting for someone; someone Valerie had called to set up an appointment and now he was late.

A luxurious black sedan pulled over to the curb on Sol Avenue in front of what had been the headquarters of Daedalus Enterprises on Terra. A driver got out of the car and walked around to the back passenger door. When he opened it, a long legged woman in a black business suit stepped out.

That woman was Valerie Chambers, the CEO of Daedalus Enterprises. She was one of the most wealthy civilians in the Federation. She practically built their military forces for them using replicant and cloning technologies. No one knew how the woman had gotten control of Daedalus Enterprises but the result of the new control was mindblowing.

The woman’s name had spread throughout most of the Garden in UCON controlled space like wildfire. The rumors of Valerie said that she was a stone cold bitch and a ball busting ice queen that could close the most impossible deals on the business playing court.

“Jonathan, you will have to push back my two o’clock meeting. We’re already running late and I need to shut down the mainframe inside the Daedalus Tower,” Valerie said to the man that got out behind her. He wore a matching black suit and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. Valerie’s assistant took out a tablet and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“How are do you want to push it back,” asked Jonathan.

“An hour will do,” replied Valerie. She looked up at the tower in front of her. It was sixty-eight stories high and made of seamless glass panels. It was a beautiful building but another one on Eden Prime was being constructed to out shine this one.

“Stay in the car. I won’t be long,” Valerie told Jonathan before she went inside Daedalus Tower.

An obnoxious beat of hip-hop compounded to the rushing noise and bustle of Sol Avenue as the two Scatterrans sat in the tiny sedan exchanged a few quick words and then returned to smoking. One of the men idly laid a hand down onto a display in the center console, when a screen on the dash winked to live and produced a readout, the face of a young Terran woman in front of them.

“Valerie Chambers -- Terran -- Federal, Terran -- Daedalus, yup that’s it.” The man in the passenger seat remarked, drawing a glove hand up to the display and tapping on the woman’s face.

“Looks like it’s the best chance we’re gonna’ get.” The driver said, a hand wrapped around a phone that came to life at the touch of a button and a tiny jingle. “ … Macksi, we’re at Sol Avenue … going forward.” The brief conversation ended in a sigh as the driver finished his cigarette, flicking the butt out the window as he opened the car door. As he disembarked the passenger followed, and quickly gave brief signals to the three other groups of operators in observation positions throughout the avenue.

After leaving his seat Androl, a grizzled Hykan, adjusted the suit coat just slightly and made his way towards the limousine, passing by several uniformed officers as he did. Taking another cigarette from his pack the Hykan stuffed the crumpled material into his coat as he came towards the driver’s side of the limo. Stretching his fingers just slightly, the capsuleer bent down at an angle to the window, looking more like a bum.

“Hey buddy, got a light?” Androl’s voice was a dull mumble, and the man certainly appeared as if he was high on something: anything he’d need to convince someone of the obvious as he pulled the silenced handgun from his jacket and hid the weapon from view with a part of his arm. Firing twice through the open window he quickly used the other to push the driver out of sight and into the passenger’s seat. Unlocking the door he also took the man’s hat from his twitching head before seating himself and lifting a small communicator to his mouth.

“Done, start the alarm.”

A few seconds passed by as Androl settled into his new identity until the fire alarms in the building began to ring.

Naturally Jonathan didn’t stay in the car. He followed Valerie wherever the woman went despite her orders. The replicant was the perfect assistant. He remained inside the foyer on the first floor while Valerie walked toward the elevators.

The replicant had been pacing back and forth near the front door with his eyes on the tablet. It was pure coincidence when Jonathan looked out the front windows and saw an unknown man knock on the window of Valerie’s car. He tilted his head in confusion and pushed open the front door.


Valerie walked past the elevators on the first floor. She immediately made a detour to a small corner office down a long hallway. It had been her office when she was an interrogator beneath Eris Driscoll, the last CEO of Daedalus Enterprises. Valerie stepped into the musty room and took a framed photograph off the desk. The woman tucked it beneath her arm and headed back out of the room just as the fire alarms screamed in her ears.


The front doors to Daedalus Tower opened again as Valerie went to find Jonathan. He was standing in the concrete courtyard of the office building.

“What is going on, Jonathan,” asked Valerie.

“I’m not too sure, Miss Chambers,” he replied to her.

“Let the Wing City police deal with it. This place is no longer Federation property,” Valerie said as both her and Jonathan walked back to the car. The woman hadn’t done what she had come to do but that had been an excuse. What she wanted she had already gotten. Valerie tucked the photograph into her purse as Jonathan opened the rear passenger door for her.

“Wing City Space Port,” Valerie told the driver. “Cancel the last appointment. I can send another person to speak to Dominic Hagan.”

“Are you sure?” asked Jonathan.

“Very.”

“Certainly, Miss Chambers.”

The car pulled away just slightly, and for a second Androl forgot he hadn’t always been the best driver, but quickly continued on and the limo went on through the city as they left Sol Avenue for the starport. As he settled into the seat he tried the radio for a moment, switching first between a talk show and then a series of music channels before finally turning it low on a simple news station.

“Always liked the way they did news on Terra.” Androl said to no one in particular as they passed an intersection and joined a line of waiting cars at a checkpoint: the Terran flag flying beneath the Coalition standard, Androl adjusted his seat just slightly as the convoy of vehicles passed through, and as the limo came to a rolling stop Androl reached into his coat. Avoiding the pistol he withdrew a wallet from his clothing.

Androl did not roll the window down, however and even, none of the marines -- though even if they were Aschen citizens of the Coalition looked like a poor excuse for marines -- began any activities even remotely similar to a standard Apparatus checkpoint.

From the passenger side, a lone Scatterran idly walked his way through the checkpoint and pried open the passenger door. Quickly stuffing himself in, the stench of alcohol and drugs joined them in the limo.

“Well heellooooooooo everyone! Androl, what up.” The man said curiously as he settled into his passenger seat, playfully socking the Hykan in the arm and laughing from his stomach as Androl bitterly shrugged off the blow. “Get you every fucking time, pussy -- “

He bounced in his seat and spun around to finally look at Valerie and the Replicant, the smile of a tourist piqued with an intense, almost insane, flicker. “Oh sure enough, Valerie-fuckin’-Chambers! Hey, you did something right for once.” He turned back and socked Androl again. “You’re such a good fucking boy.”

“My God, what am I doing -- I should probably explain myself, shouldn’t I? I really should, it’s proper.” He faced the windshield as the limo carried on through the checkpoint, while the man was struggling to relinquish something from the confines of his pocket.

“So, you -- “ The Scatterran pointed to Valerie as he turned back around, now the barrel of a handgun kept precariously in his other hand, with the other hefting a datapad. “Are Valeria Chambers yeah? Fuckin’ Daedalus Enterprises! Yeah, yeah it’s you.” He said as he turned the screen of the datapad to her revealing the woman’s dossier.

“Anyway, my name is Faust -- I’m in the SRL, yadda yadda but here’s the important part!” He said with a figurative gesture of his hands. “You! Are worth! A lot! Of Money!” The statement ended with a mischievous, big smile.

As soon as a strange man came into the limousine Valerie looked up from her data tablet. A confused but curious expression blossomed over her lovely face. She was unsure whether to smile or to be alarmed.

"A friend of yours, Dav-..." Andol. That wasn't the name of her driver. The smile faded from Valerie's face and she looked at Jonathan with a question in her expression.

The replicant nodded and slipped a hand into his jacket. There was a holster with a PK-90 strapped to Jonathan. He didn't withdraw the weapon but was going to wait until there was a sign that Valerie was in danger.

"What do you want with me, Mister Faust," Valerie asked the strange, quirky, man. The woman was smart. She knew what was going on because she had done it before herself. It was a kidnapping for randsom.

The best thing for Valerie to do was to not panic. They would demand money and then either release or kill her. There may be torture along the way to the grand finale as well.

Seeing as this man was part of the SRL Valerie's hopes of skipping death and torture were very slim.

"Jonathan, cancel all my appointments until further notice," the woman said as she stared into Faust's eyes with cool calmness and collectiveness.

“Now now, let’s not jump to conclusions here -- believe it or not I’m quite a fucking capable business man.” He said as the capsuleer’s gaze jumped from the replicant to the woman as the man kept driving. “Hey actually, before we get to the hole … motherfucker needs a snowcone.”

As awkwardly as he had just stated that request he turned back to Valerie and the synthetic, that softness in his face from the introductions gone and etching lines of anger across his face. “I don’t want a thing with you, Miss Chambers. I am merely investing in the propensity of your compatriots to give a fuck about you.” He explained gingerly, the weapon loose in his hands and the barrel aimlessly swinging any which way.

“This isn’t my first rodeo, so unless you want me returning you and your plug-in assistant in a fucking soup can he’ll take his hand out of his jacket.” His voice raised, a tang of anger quickly beginning to burn into something more. “Actually as a matter of factly, just give me the gun. I’ve gotten shot in the face for not doing this before, so just give me the gun.”

“Don’t be afraid though, I know you’ve probably heard a lot of bad shit. The League, well, the League is a wretched beast for sure! Some of us though … “ He said with a bit of an indication to the driver, then jokingly pantomiming Androl’s Hykan physique. Then extending an empty hand into the back seats of the car for the weapon. “Some of us just need that cash, yeah?”

“We’ll just start with idle conversation, so, Valerie, what brought you to Terra -- hey man, don’t forget about those fucking snowcones.”

So, the man Faust wanted something to do with the Federation and not just Daedalus, or maybe it was Daedalus. After all the company was a large portion of the Federation's Intergalatic military.
Valerie's eyes never deviated from Faust's eyes to the gun in his hand. Getting shot wasn't going to be pleasant but she knew that he wouldn't shoot her. It was too early in the game for that play. He needed her alive because without her there were no demands to be made.

"Yes, of course Mister Faust," Valerie said in the same cool tone she had used before. She didn't seem affected by the threats dolled out by the man. Her hand shifted to the door handle and she looked at Jonathan out of the corner of her eye. The heels Valerie wore were kicked off.

The replicant unholstered the PK-90 and shot off a burst of rounds at Faust and the driver. Valerie opened the car door and made a run for it. She was suprisingly fast for a business woman that seemed to do nothing but sit around on her derierre.

Valerie reached into her bra and activated a small beacon with a push of her finger. If she was caught at least she was able to send the distress signal first.

Faust had already steeled himself after the short, simple response from the woman. He didn’t like it when people refused him conversation. Turning back around he let a timer begin to tick away in his mind, and in the few more moments of silence before the gun was pulled Faust only thought one thing …



As the weapon came out Faust spun and shoved a hand through the air, catching the replicant’s wrist and letting the weapon spray into the roof before his own weapon came into action. Simply hefting the weapon in one hand Faust extended it past his seat and fired point blank into the replicant’s face, the semi-auto magnum producing a blast of heat and light before the slug pounded the synthetic’s brain into a mist of silicon and chips. In the proximity Faust’s hearing was deafened, and microshrapnel from the replicant had cut several knicks into his face before the car door sprung open.

The woman was too far away for a pursuit, but Faust wasn’t out of options yet. Actually, in hindsight he decided, it was probably best to leave the limo anyway.

The fact that there was another Faust wouldn’t have been a possibility though and she would have escaped, without the magic of capsuleering. The woman ran through the street and caused several onlookers to take notice, though as she neared an intersection the same, uniformed man appeared just in the alley beside her and stretched an arm out in front of the woman to clothesline her.

“Now, just where the fuck do you think you’re going? I offered snowcones!”

Valerie's air supply was cut off when she was clothes-lined and what air was left in her lungs was pushed out as she hit the concrete. The woman turned onto her side and tried to gasp for air. Her hand clasped around her throat and her eyes bulged in her head.

The surprise gave away the nature of the man. Valerie knew that he was a capsuleer. It had been a suspicion at first when Faust mentioned the SRL but now it was confirmed. He had jumped bodies.

Valerie gasped in a lungful of air and coughed. Her hand reached out for the man's leg. If she could just touch him then Valerie could alter his perception.

The scion had never tried to manipulate a capsuleer before but Vallen had been a powerful psychokinetic. She had been more than successful on him in the past.

"D-Don't... hurt me... please," Valerie choked out as she struggled to just get a small touch of flesh against her fingers.

Just a few more centimeters, Valerie thought to herself.