[Concord Flotilla, Liveship Lenora, 152 years after first contact]
The rusted walls surrounding Rena whirred and groaned like an old machine as she trudged her way through the seemingly endless hallways. She walked with purpose, pushing through the crowds all the while clinging to something wrapped in brown paper. It was another hard day of work, and she didn't have time to be exhausted.
Her brown cloak hid her scandalous nightgown and long braided hair with its unusually pink hues. It was unusual with someone of her profession to be outside the upper decks at all, given her value and vulnerability. Most girls with her looks would just stay where it was warm and where they were held close by clients.
Those who worked for the company could afford her.
Those who clambered into the fleet while her planet burned could not.
She always held her people to a high standard, proudly thinking them to be a shining beacon of civilization in the outer colonies. But Algernon had changed all that with one stroke of his hand, transforming the people of Concord into selfish savages. Or at least, that's how Rena saw it.
Looking up at the dull metal ceiling with its flickering lights, she found it hard to beleive that her people were ever known for botany. The Flotilla was only ever designed to carry a mass amount of goods and livestock. And Algernon had seen to it that no one would take them in.
And so Rena wandered amongst the stars, surviving however she could. Her family hadn't been seen since it all fell apart. All she had left was her crumbling sense of justice.
"Move." Rena groaned with a hint of annoyance, phasing through a wall while no one was looking.
She was deep within the lower tennents, where the only occupation was that of the maintenance crew. All the other "stowaways" were simply expected to find a way to sustain themselves using the limited resources they had available within the cargo holds. If not for their colony's specialization and their skill in botany, the people of Concord would have probably starved in their stuffy tomb.
Either way, it was no place for a girl.
Rena wasn't quite sure where the ship was even headed during those days, or what the crew planned to do with its overpopulation crisis. All she really needed was the security of her own job. And luckily for her, those in power within the ship would always need a comfort girl.
There were no windows or decorations down in the lower levels, only mechanisms and endless storage units. Her clients, however, gave Rena a front row seat to a life much more agreeable. She could even see the stars from time to time and ask what kind of celestial body was on the horizon.
That didn't matter much to Rena, however. She was on a mission to see a friend.
"Hey," Rena whispered softly, phasing through a door before kneeling in front of a small divot in the wall containing a frail girl. "I brought you something."
"Rena?" A shrill voice called out to Rena excitedly as a malnourished hand reached out from the darkness to greet her. "You came."
"Of course I did, Brie." Rena smiled, offering the girl the package she had been carrying. "I'd never forget you."
The girl's face could barely be seen through the opening, its delicate surface irreparably burnt to a crisp. A year ago, she took even more clients than Rena, but her soft heart led her to danger she would soon regret. Fortunately for Brie, which was the nickname she had been given, Rena still remembered her.
They always had a lot in common, especially when it came to their relatives' grizzly fate. Rena would never forget how she was shown the ropes and guided along her new path to survival. Moreover, Brie was the only person who knew of her condition.
Though that was only due in part to Rena's sloppiness, which led to her being seen falling through the floor.
"Rena, you can't." Brie frowned, unfolding the package to reveal an MRE. "You need this."
"I get fed plenty up top." Rena shrugged. "Trust me."
"You're skinny as a bone."
"They like it that way."
Brie giggled a bit before releasing a raspy cough. Her cadence told Rena everything she needed to know. It felt good to save someone grateful.
"Eat up." Rena huffed. "And stay hidden."
"I know. There's only kids in these tunnels. They call me auntie." Brie smiled. "But Rena..."
"Yea?"
"I have a gift for you as well."
Brie's hand disappeared, stowing away the food before returning with a strange, thin device in her hand. Rena's eyes widened with disgust, and she felt the urge to turn away. Even considering the gift was painful for her.
It was a pregnancy test.
"Brie-no." Rena shook her head furiously.
"You said you were feeling sick," Brie spoke in a concerned tone. "Please. Take it."
"I've been on all the right meds. It's not possible!"
"Then it should come up negative."
"I won't take it!"
"Rena..."
Eventually, Rena snatched the plastic stick out of Brie's hands, making her disdain apparent as she phased out of the room. Her friend, however, remained calm, feeling confident that the hero of Lenora could figure things out. She had no idea what was really going on.
________________________
It had been a week since Rena had received the test. She couldn't bring herself to use it. And yet her hesitation confirmed to her the ugly truth.
And she wasn't ready.
"I can't." Rena shook her head, wandering deep into the darkest bowls of the ship.
The tunnels of Lenora were only used for storage, even more so than the rest of the lower levels. But it had become a hub of activity for those with a keen eye and a preference for unruliness. But for Rena, it was just a place to escape to.
"I...can't." Rena continued as she began to sob.
The test was a mere formality. The power that resonated within her tingled with unrest. She already knew that soon enough, her Psionic power would have company.
Rena never did feel secure in her own body. But it was easy to ignore what she was until she needed a convenient escape. That had all changed, however, the moment her Psionic gaze began to detect a second soul.
It was inside her. Growing. Slowly.
"I don't-..." Rena began to hyperventilate, sliding down a wet sheet of metal as her feet splashed against the pooling water of the ship's underbelly.
Her eyes flickered with a pink energy, and soon she felt invigorated with a strength she hadn't felt since the day Concord burned. Her panicked state seemed to make Rena a proper Psion. If Yrix were there, she would have been proud.
"Hey-." A man's voice called out from behind Rena. "Come here-."
Deep within the underbelly, navigating the spaces alone as a girl was just asking for trouble. Rena didn't even need to turn around to know what the stranger wanted. She was just fresh meat.
Typically, the easy thing to do was run and use her powers. But even that simple task was too much for her. Thinking was too much for her.
Instead, Rena threw out her arm, using her Psionic grasp to squeeze the man so tightly that he exploded like a sour grape. The panicked girl didn't even bother to turn around in that moment. There was no point.
Feeling like a murderer, self-defense or not, meant nothing to Rena. All that she could focus on was the doubt in her mind. Soon, she figured, she would feel like a killer.
But not because of some sewer rat she squashed.
"Oh, God." Rena gagged, thinking of her predicament. "I can't have one. Not here. Not now."
She dreamt of the day she could care for a child. It was a vision she had held since she was a child. Rena would even go as far as to say that she loved babies.
And yet there she was, unable to love what she would soon give to the world. That made her feel more monstrous than being a Psion ever could. Even Yrix, in all her cruel cunning, could never make Rena feel so utterly shameful.
"It's their fault." Rena began to simmer with hatred, thinking of the family that destroyed her home.
Tesselation.
"If I ever find one of you," Rena continued, clenching her fists. "I swear. I will kill you. All of you."
Such was her wrath that one might even expect Yrix to take notice.
In fact, she did.
The Arch-Flayer had reached out across thousands of light-years, and in Rena's time of anguish, she appeared within her mind. Rena could feel it. She could feel the power of a rotten being crawl down her spine.
But she didn't think it was some Arch-Flayer from halfway across the galaxy.
No, she believed it was herself.
Staring back at her from inside the mirror.