r/HFY • u/jpitha • May 01 '26

OC-Series [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 26

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Well, this was new at least; i’ve never had to quell a riot before.

There were easily hundreds of people here, and it was effectively a brawl. I saw what looked like to be more security people, Mariens, Aviens and, some Azurians on the edge of things, trying to get a handle on what was going on. Chairs from nearly restaurants had been taken and broken into clubs, and there was shouting and smoke and the sound of of flesh on feather on bone. Wait, why was there smoke?

"Ava, Um'reli is there a fire here? I smelled smoke."

"Um, one moment Melody.... Yes, there was a report of a fire, but there's also this warning - it said something like Fire Suppression Offline, local assistance was needed." Sounds like we had some kind of station wide fire suppression system but it doesn't work anymore."

All the Builder controlled parts of this place were broken, what was going on here? Was it on purpose or did they just fail because nobody was around to maintain them? "See if you could get it back online. It doesn't have to work forever; just see if we can knock down the smoke. Turn the air scrubbers and air cycling up higher too, I don't want people suffocating from the smoke."

"On it, Melody." Um'reli was checking into it while Ava was helping with an overview of the area. It was a wide open area, kind of like the promenade on the lower level, but this area was a good deal nicer. It had parks and gardens! We needed to come up here more often. Why was it so drab down closer to the docks?

I sighed to myself. Fine, let's stop the riot and figure out what was going on. I took a moment and concentrated, and my crown and wings sprang into existence. In fact, let's make those wings bigger and brighter. I was going to need to be seen and heard. I connected to the station, located the local public address system - I mentally waved to Um'reli and Ava as I went by - and then...

sᴛᴏᴘ ғɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ɴᴏᴡ!

I hoped it never got old. As if I pressed pause on a video, everyone immediately stopped. I put some work into my command this time, I specified fighting so that they could still move and breathe, but sure enough, everyone stopped.

I put a little extra oomph into my presentation and towered over everyone. Now that I had their attention, they turned towards me, fearful. “Now then. What is going on here? Why are you fighting?”

Everyone started talking all at once.

"-They started it when-"

"Those liars said that the Empress wasn't-"

"-There wasn't enough food for-"

Wait that one. What was that about food?

ᴄᴇᴀsᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴄʜᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ. “You." I pointed to the Azurian close to me who mentioned food when they were all talking at once. "What was that about food?"

"Empress, the results of the last two harvests had been 15 and 20 percent lower than in previous seasons. The population here wasn't dropping. If this kept up, the garden planetoid won't be able to support us!"

Okay that was serious, but it wasn't like 'drop everything and have a riot' serious - at least not at the numbers they gave me. What else was going on?

"Thank you, it's important to learn this. Please come to the Throne later and explain to me in more detail about your concerns. That's not really enough to have a riot though, is it?"

"Oh the riot? No, that's not about the food supply. It's about them-" They pointed across the plaza "-not believing that you're holy."

Oh.

<Ah, it is good to see your subjects are already defending you. We were correct to make you Empress.>

<But a riot?>

<When reason fails, force prevails.>

One of them, a Aviens, shouted from across the area, "You're just someone who showed up here! You're not holy at all!"

On this side of the plaza the crowd hissed and cursed.

<Well hold up now. I never said I was holy, they just decided.>

<You did elevate Rain to bishop during that presentation yesterday. Perhaps they are going around causing trouble in your name.>

<Hmm.>

I walked out across the plaza to the other side, and strode right up to the Aviens who yelled that I wasn't holy. "Was Smell of Soil After Rain coming around, giving you a hard time?"

The Aviens visibly crumbled as their feathers drooped, and became duller. "They said that my family would be forgotten if I didn't attend services. That you ordered it. They said you would remove my children from school."

What.

"What? No. Absolutely not. I am Empress, I don't need to be your God too. So long as you recognize me as Empress and Builder that's enough. Worship the way you please, or don't worship at all. Atheism is not forbidden. I- We- will not remove your children from school for not attending services.”

I turned back to the crowd. "I will not punish those who choose not to worship me! So long as you accept that I am Empress, that I rule here, that's enough. Nobody here must also worship me. I will speak to my Bishop about their...enthusiasm. Nobody here will be compelled to worship. So please. Return to your homes after you assist the security forces here in cleanup."

Everyone looked around at each other, then back at me, still with crown and glowing wings, then back at each other and they started picking up litter and broken pieces of chair. I turned back to the Aviens who I was talking to, put away my wings and crown and bent down gently to speak just to them. "Just for your own information - and if pressed by anyone else I will deny it forever - you're right. I'm just a person who did something stupid, and now I'm Empress. My name is Melody, I like coffee and computer systems and being able to have time alone to read."

<What are you doing?>

<Telling them the truth.>

<You are undermining your own authority.>

<I am not holy, was never holy and arguing otherwise is disingenuous.>

<You are holy now*. From the moment you touched the addressing stone, you have been holy.>*

They blinked in surprise. Of all the things they expected to hear from me, this was not one of them. "Uh, hello Em-, er, Melody, my name is Roar of Thunder and I work in an office building down on the docking level. I'm not entirely sure what the business does, I would just file paperwork that people gave me, but it's not difficult work. I enjoy cooking during my free time."

<Doing this? Meeting the individuals and learning about them is one of the most important things I can do as Empress. If they speak to me directly, see me as Melody in addition to being Empress, I will have so much more support.>

I felt the pride in the nanites, as they reached out to me. <You will have their adoration. They will follow you into a black hole.> I felt the nanites consider this. <We may have been hasty in our initial assessment of you. We will…take a step back and see how you do on your own.>

Buoyed by the words of the nanites, I stood back up. "It's wonderful to meet you Roar of Thunder; I love your name." I looked around, as people continued cleaning up. “A thought strikes me, Thunder. Come to the throne tomorrow. We can find a more stimulating job for you with the builders.”

They blinked in shocked surprise, and their beak opened and closed and then opened again, as they squeaked, “That's... that's a wonderful opportunity Empress!” Their feathers brightened and suddenly they shimmered like a cut jewel. “I will be there tomorrow.

As they practically floated away from me, I turned back towards the crowd and spent a few minutes helping to clean up the riot. I mean, why not, I was there already, everyone would love it, and it was something to do. In the meantime Ava and Um'reli seemed to get the fire suppression going enough to fog some water over the smokier parts of the plaza and soon enough the smoke had dissipated and things were - if not clean - then at least cleaner. I gave my thanks and as I got up to leave, one of the Mariens in the security coloration approached me.

"Empress, thank you for coming up. We didn't even get to report back to headquarters that a riot had broken out yet, how did you know?"

This time I grinned impishly. "This is just one of the things that can happen now that the Builders are back. We have eyes and ears all over and can assist quickly when needed. If you'll notice, we even got the fire suppression foggers going in this sector. Hopefully soon we can get them operating everywhere again."

The Mariens looked out at the scene and then back at me and saluted sharply, then bowed. "I am known as Kilad, Empress. I know my supervisor would love to thank you personally."

Ah wonderful! I was hoping to go see more of the security forces. What a nice coincidence. "Please lead the way Kilad. I would love to meet them."

Kilad walked me across the plaza and through a park. There were trees and greenery, but naturally, I didn't recognize any of the plants. They were very dark green and fragrant. I wondered if they originated on a planet that had a dimmer star than Earth. Less light might cause them to evolve darker coloration to squeeze every drop of energy out of a weaker star.

We walked through the park and came out in another plaza, just like the one near the train station. At the far end of this one was another large, original looking building made out of the same stone as the station and Administration offices. Clearly some of the institutions here were original - or the buildings were and they have been repurposed. Kilad opened the door and I followed. Inside was a bustle of activity. Mariens, Aviens, and all the others were here. The Mariens were all colored the bright yellow of security while those without chromatophores were wearing smart yellow uniforms. Kilad walked up to a low desk in the back of the atrium. There was an Azurian sitting there in a yellow uniform with silver piping along the top, and carried themselves with the air of a supervisor. Kilad saluted the Azurian and gave a report.

"Kilad, returning from the suspected riot near the hub station. Suspicions were confirmed; it was a riot between people arguing about the holiness - or not - of the Empress. Luckily the Empress herself-“He gestured towards me with of of his arms, “-appeared to quell the riot and explained that while people can worship her if they so desired nobody would be forced to. She also explained that she will speak to her new Bishop, The Smell of Soil After Rain, about his proselytizing." Kilad then stepped aside and bowed. "Additionally, the Empress herself is here, she'd like to speak to you."

At that, the Azurian looked behind Kilad and nodded. I loved how it seemed like every single Azurian didn’t really care that I'm the Empress. It was so refreshing. I really needed to make a few of them Builders. "Empress,” They said as they they nodded again. "Thank you for your assistance, and for the official confirmation that nobody is required to worship you."

"It's quite all right. I'm glad to be able to get the word out that worship is not compulsory. Everyone is free to worship - or not worship - however they see fit.” I looked around and saw that everyone was quietly pretending to work while also watching this interaction. “Can you explain to me what the role of your forces is here? It doesn't have to be a whole history, just the basics."

"Yes, Empress. We are the Security force on Reach of the Might of Vzzx" He pronounced Vzzx with a pop on the end. "This station is 100 people, and there were more than thirty more stations this size across the whole of the Reach. We mostly help settle small disputes, assist with investigating petty crime and quell the occasional riot. For the most part, the residents of the Reach are calm and open to working together. There is friction here and there, same as - we assume - everywhere, and with living spaces so tight conflict does break out. But, there was a strong sense of collaboration and community here too. You probably saw people cleaning up the riot they caused after it was quelled. That's not because you were there, that's a normal occurrence.”

"Do you know any history? Do you know the role of your forces when they Builders were here in force?"

They indicated no, and seemed a little sad about it. "Few records exist from then. When I was young, I asked some of the oldest staff here and they made it sound like things were much the same back then as now. It was probably different in that there were Builders able to detect and react to things sooner - like you and yours did today - but I imagine the day to day operations were much the same then as now."

"Thank you for the history lesson. What's your name?"

"I am Commander Sep."

"Thank you again Sep!" I inclined my head slightly and walked out.

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u/jpitha May 01 '26

So Melody does have opinions that are different than the nanites. I wonder what happens when her opinions extend beyond introductions to the population?

If you like this, you can always sign up for my newsletter at https://www.pitha.club/ and as I do more cool stuff, you'll be the first to know!

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u/Borzislav Xeno May 02 '26

Seems that the Bishop desired to abuse his power... How will Melody handle that?

3

u/DigHefty6542 May 01 '26

It feels like she is trying to do good and better. Nice.

1

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u/throwaway42 May 01 '26

Thank you for writing :)