Part 1 | Chapter 5 - Classified

Part 1, The Ticking Clock

Chapter 5 - Classified

The platform at the manifestation ceremonies looks like something out of a history text book, definitely not the product of modern technology. It’s a huge circular metal platform, as wide as a train carriage is long to accommodate the truly huge sizes some symbionts can manifest as. The edges are etched with runes from another millennia, pulsing a glowing red with symbiont energy. Along the edges a spider web of wires and sensors are rigged up to detect and monitor the symbionts that manifest there.

Around the whole affair is an amphitheater of seats, friends and family always come out for these ceremonies, it's the most significant moment of a young person's life, even more significant than graduation from Murasaki’s mandatory undergrad programs. Huge screens hang above, one listing the order of names for the day and a second flashing up information on the manifested symbiont for everyone to excitedly gawk and celebrate. We - well everyone except for me - might not be able to see symbionts, but we’ve developed plenty of technology through the years that interacts with their energy such that species are usually ID’d for the waiting crowd within moments of the manifestation. The third screen has been empty for the ceremonies so far.

Above, blacked out glass hides the private seating booths for recruiters and internal HR.

The previous candidate trails off stage, a newly manifested Columba sitting between their cupped hands as they stare at it in awe. The middle screen still shows DESIGNATION: General Operations. SPECIES: Columba rupestris from her manifestation. A handler is already in the middle of the stage sterilizing the metal surface where the previous candidate's blood was smeared.

“Jason’s up next,” whispers Meiko in my ear, grasping my hand so tightly it hurts.

I adjust my grip, twinning her fingers between my own and give her a reassuring squeeze. “He’ll be fine.”

As Jason’s name hits the top of the first screen, he’s led out into the platform from the wings by a handler with a Saguinus perched on their shoulder. The suit he's wearing looks brand new. He pauses before the platform, and then steps up onto it.

The runes almost vibrate, the red energy flashing between them seems to swell. Jason holds his hand out in front of him and pricks the end of his finger with a single-use lancet. Kneeling, he wipes the tiny amount of blood against the metal surface of the platform. From this far away, it looks like he’s just bending to adjust his shoes, but we’ve all already been told how the manifestation will occur.

The platform thrums with energy, and I blink to watch his symbiont manifest with my second vision. From the tiny spot of blood a dark form blossoms and solidifies, from up here it’s maybe as large as his head with a coat of long thin white spines and a pale narrow face. I don’t even realize I’m holding my breath till I let it go in relief.

DESIGNATION: Utilities, Electrical. SPECIES: Erinaceus concolor. Beneath it is a quick bio on the species detailing how they naturally generate electricity. There are stronger species, but Erinaceus are definitely respectable.

“Just like his brother!” beams Meiko proudly. I open my mouth to congratulate her when suddenly the third screen lights up.

Two company names appear under the header Buyout Bids Placed. Meiko gasps. I risk a glance over to Jason’s family who have all fallen silent from their celebration, eyes locked on the buyout screen. Jason is too busy kneeling to touch his new symbiont to even notice it has happened.

“Murasaki needs every generator they can get their hands on, there is no way they’ll take just anything offered for him,” I whisper, gripping Meiko’s hand with my own just as hard now.

Jason has spotted the third screen now, and he stands slack jawed staring, waiting to see if any other bids come in. I glance up at the blacked out glass of the recruiter booths, hoping some reflection or shine off the surface will give me a clue what is happening up there. A clock at the corner begins to count down the five minute window till bids close.

Meiko is almost rocking in her chair with anxiety, her white-knuckled grip on my hand the only part of her that is staying still. She’s shut her eyes as if not looking will make it go away.

“There’s no other bids,” I update her hopefully, “There’s no way it went high enough for Murasaki to take a buyout.”

Meiko is too tense to reply, her eyes scrunched shut. As it hits '0:00' there is a pause.

Buyout bids rejected. Contract retained.

“Safe!”

Meiko surges to her feet punching the air, “Yeah Jason!! Go Jason!!”

His family explodes into cheers as well, and Jason drops to his knees in relief. He has barely a moment to gather his Erinaceus before a second handler is pushing him along, spray bottle of cleaning fluid in hand to clean up the tiny blood smear.

“C’mon, c’mon! We gotta go celebrate!” says Meiko, bouncing in her chair and grabbing my hands to try and pull me to my feet.

I grin and nod, following her as the next participant begins the walk up to the manifestation platform. I recognize his name but can’t remember if we ever shared any classes together. We begin to weave our way through the legs of those sitting near us still waiting to see whoever they came for, excusing ourselves along the way while Meiko positively vibrates with excitement.

“Did you get your paycheck?” she asks, “I’m getting so drunk tonight!”

I laugh, “You know it, nothing stopping me today!” With our backs to the stage, I look down as I climb the stairs at my hand-held to send Harris a message.

Jason’s all done! You also working tonight? - CD, ID:SB0088907B

My fingers trail to a stop as a cold wave of silence fills the amphitheater.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I swallow, I know exactly what that means. I don’t want to look but Meiko tugs my sleeve silently and I turn over my shoulder, eyes down to the platform again.

The symbiont standing before the tiny human is huge, taller than a man, with a muscular white and black striped body that ripples with violent potential. It curls back its terracotta lips to reveal serrated teeth, and flexes its paws to extend claws. Its eyes are the color of brass, set deep and dark in its face, and from behind pointed ears stretch two coiling golden horns. My breath catches in my throat as it tests its voice - silent to everyone but me and its new host - a low, resonant growl.

DESIGNATION: Military. SPECIES: Classified.

I feel like my heart has stopped. This time the middle screen has no descriptive bio. It almost feels like I’m watching a premonition of my own fate.

The third screen fires to life, bids coming in so quickly the screen begins to scroll to keep up with the names.

I’m transfixed watching them, there’s no sign of it slowing down and it just keeps on scrolling. The new host just stands there staring at the symbiont in front of them, the lights gleaming off moisture on their cheeks. I can’t help but linger my own eyes on the platform as well, even though I’m meant to see nothing there. The creature is truly stunning, wisps of blue energy dancing through its coat. I've never seen a Panthera in person, only drawings. If Murasaki even had another, it would be far too dangerous to keep around residential areas.

It's the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, feral and powerful in ways I can only dream of.

The crowd is waiting in a hush so quiet I can hear his family sobbing across the amphitheater, the quiet moans of his mother are so gut wrenching you’d think he’d died. He might as well have, Panthera have only a few uses and most of them only matter to companies with questionable business operations at best. All the rest of the crowd can see is that damning designation - 'Military'. I’ve never been on the other side, but I guarantee the recruiters get a full description of the manifested symbiont and not just “Classified” like the rest of us.

“Fuck,” mutters Meiko, her previous mood subdued in empathy with the watching crowd and ex-classmate below us.

My chest feels tight, and I watch the clock count down and the stream of bids slows to a trickle. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many bids,” I croak out.

“Wasn’t he in physics with us? Oh, I feel terrible Conrad, I can’t watch.”

My own mouth is too dry to respond.

The clock is still counting down, but the bids have trickled to a stop now. The final name is a company called 'Allied Personnel Solutions'. There is no way that’s anything except a private military contractor. He’ll probably not even have a company district or place to call home, damned to be shuttled from contract to contract as needed. There is no way his buyout bid didn’t climb phenomenally high, Murasaki has to be seriously considering it. What use do they have for a Panthera? We do R&D, sure, but not military tech.

The clock hits '0:00'. The pause feels so much longer than when we waited for Jason’s fate.

Buyout accepted. Proceed to Inter-Company Transfer.

Below me in the crowd his mother wails, climbing forward across several seats to scream “I love you” over and over again as someone else tries to contain her. He won’t even get to see them to say goodbye. His family will pack his belongings before the end of the night and send them via HR for his transfer. Two handlers come forward to attempt to clear him off the stage for the next person.

“I won’t do it, I won’t go!” he yells, coming down from the platform as if he intends to climb into the crowd with his family, no longer paying attention to his symbiont. The Panthera lowers itself, lips drawing back into a snarl as its brass eyes fix on the first handler near the platform with the Saguinus on their shoulder.

I grab Meiko below me on the stairs by the arm, a warning of “Don’t look” all I can gasp out.

The Panthera leaps, catching the first handler around their middle with its vicious claws and clamping its jaws around their shoulders. Blood splatters across the metal platform, sending the runes sparking red with archaic power. The handler screams, their own symbiont beating the Panthera in the face with bunched fists and screeching its own high pitched calls. The Panthera’s muzzle crinkles around the handler’s shoulder in its jaw and blue energy billows off its body and out its mouth like exhaust fumes.

I lean on the chairs off the side of the aisle, my second vision blurring as I blink from shock. The Panthera and screaming Saguinus phase in and out of my sight as the handler contorts in the air, leaving blood dripping off unseen textures hanging in the air in one moment, and glossy white pelt the next. Alarms blare to life, warning of the imminent electrification of the manifestation platform. The bonded boy turns back to see the stage, his eyes widening as he joins the terrified screams of the watching crowd. The second handler is grabbing his arms and pulling him away.

The Panthera’s billowing blue clouds of energy seem to thicken with violet-white plasma crackling between them. Then, with its eyes locked on its new host, the energy pauses its congelation, and there seems to be a moment of hesitation...

The klaxon finishes its call and is followed by a terrifying electrical crack that blinks out the ceiling lights in the amphitheatre and plunges everything into darkness.

In the remnant glow of the Panthera’s dissipating plasma I watch its eyes roll and legs buckle as the electricity seizes its body but does not kill. The newly bonded boy passes out along with their Panthera into the second handler's arms mere feet away. The human handler in the symbiont's jaws falls slack, the Saguinus on their shoulders topples forward dead and dissolves before its body even touches the floor.

It's over in less than a few seconds. I draw a shaking breath and grip Meiko’s shoulder. The silence of the amphitheater is as sudden as the darkness was.

One of the screens fires into life, dim red lights beginning to illuminate under our feet.

Please remain calm and follow emergency lighting to the exits.

“What the fuck just happened?” whispers Meiko.

I stare at the stage, trying to process if what I saw was real? The Panthera was waiting, it paused, it wasn’t going to kill the handler, it was just terrified. Did it even understand what was happening to it, newly manifested into existence like a baby? I suddenly wish I had shown more interest in the labs studying symbiont-human bonds to better understand what it was capable of understanding about the situation.

I swear the second handler had been pulling the host back from the platform. Did they know the voltage of the platform would kill a human? Did they know it was low enough not to kill the Panthera? Or was it just an unfortunate accident in the chaos?

My wrist buzzes, lighting up beneath me as the message flashes up, white text on black screen.

Thought you weren’t talking to me after last night? I’ll be late but I can make it. How’d it go? - HC, ID:MRG2044987D

The thought of drinking just makes my stomach turn now.