//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: Station Thirteen // by Jarvy Jared //------------------------------// The first engineer frowned and rubbed his chin. “Hate to tell you, but you’d need more than that before you start trying to make even a toaster. A lot more.”  “How much more?” Cypress asked. “More than what you’ve described.” The second engineer, standing next to the first, squinted at Cypress. “Why the sudden interest? Aren’t you in Logistics?” “It’s, ah, not for me. My cousin, uh, Cedar Snap, he was just asking out of curiosity.” The line came unnaturally, and Cypress tried to support it by saying, “I figured I’d better ask some ponies who know this stuff.” The engineers exchanged glances and were quiet for a time. Cypress tried not to shuffle his hooves. Standing just outside one of the break rooms, he felt more exposed than ever. Eyes from other engineers and workers, coming and going, traveled over him. How many were silently commenting, with hidden, mocking smiles, that he shouldn’t be here, that he wasn’t part of their division? Yes, we know you know you don’t belong here. Why bother trying? He’d walked over to the Engineering department in the hopes of getting answers. But it was difficult to get anypony to talk. With lunch over, most were returning to work, and though their dismissals were still polite, he couldn’t help but feel frustrated. Only these two had been willing to spare him a moment of their time. “Well, I wouldn’t say I know this stuff all that well,” the first one said. “Honestly sounds like a bunch of stuff you’d get for a fledging robotics project. But we don’t have any roboticists on this Station. Your cousin would be better off asking someone else, elsewhere.” “Ah, right. That makes sense.” Cypress tried to conceal his disappointment. “Well, thank you. I’ll be sure to let them know…” He was about to turn away, when the second engineer spoke. “If you want a more definite answer, you should talk to Kai.” Cypress stopped, turning around. “Who?” The first engineer shot the second an inscrutable look. “Really? You’re suggesting them?” “Well, they know more than either you and me. That much is true.” “Yeah, but they’re—” The first engineer stopped, then glanced at Cypress. He seemed to be weighing something on his mind, calculating something about Cypress.  Cypress cleared his throat. “Who’s Kai?” The second engineer glanced away from her companion. “Right, you haven’t met them, yet. Kai’s a Changeling.” Next to her, the first engineer made an unconscious movement with their head. She looked at him, then rolled her eyes. “They transferred into our Engineering department about two weeks ago, and they definitely know their stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew more about robotics than anyone else on base.”  “Where can I find them?” “Probably in the break room, at the moment.” Then her voice rose a little, and she spoke with a degree of admiration.” You know, I’ve never met a creature more efficient than them—it’s kinda scary. Makes you realize why they were able to take Canterlot all those years ago.” “That’s not really something you should be impressed by,” the first engineer said. While the second began to respond, Cypress quietly thanked them and walked his way to the station’s break room.  Inside were some shelves, a refrigerator unit, a microwave, and a few tables. The room was full of other engineers, who glanced up at Cypress’s entrance. They offered polite nods, but nothing else.   Slowly, trying not to call attention to himself, Cypress drew forward into the room. A few ponies dispersed to let him through, and once they were gone, he caught sight of a lone figure sitting at a table in the back corner. Cornsilk blue with pinkish eyes and a pair of coppery translucent wings, they had their head lowered and their gaze set squarely on what must have been a massive manual as thick as a pony’s neck. Cypress crossed the room and stood in front of the figure. They didn’t look up. Cypress cleared his throat. The figure kept their head down. “Er… Kai?” At the name, the Changeling sighed. “Oh, what is it now?” they said irritably. There was a buzz to their voice, slightly higher pitched than what Cypress would have expected. Their eyes, however, sparkled with surprise when they rose to meet Cypress’s. “Wait, you’re not…” “No,” Cypress said carefully, “I’m not. But you are Kai, right? I’m not mistaken?” “I-I am.” Kai nodded excitedly. They grinned, showing off fangs that reminded Cypress of his own. “Not that you’d probably have any difficulty figuring that out. I’m the only Changeling on this station, as far as I can tell.” There was laughter behind their voice, but the admission seemed to be accompanied by something else. The smile Kai wore was genuine enough, but Cypress sensed something behind that, something familiar. He looked at the seat opposite of the Changeling, and, noticing, Kai gestured for him to sit. Kai’s smile turned apologetic. “Forgive me if I seem a little awkward. I’m not used to being approached. And, uh, who exactly are you? I don’t think I’ve met you before.” “Ah, my bad.” Cypress introduced himself, then added, “I’m the only kirin on the station. Been here for about a month.” “I guess that means we’re both rather green. You, literally.” Cypress chuckled. Having sat down, he was able to see the massive volume of text, and he pointed at it. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen an actual paper book. Most of the stuff in the library are all e-books, now.” “One of the great tragedies of progress,” Kai said with such a melancholic tone of voice, they could not be taken seriously.  “What exactly is it?” In answer, Kai turned the book around to show Cypress the cover. Stenciled in bold, all-caps serif font were the words, The History of Comet Sightings: Introduction by the Grrrreat [there really were that many r’s] and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon. “A modest read,” Kai said. Cypress whistled. “If that’s your definition of modest, I mean. I take it you’re into comets, then? That’s a surprise.” “Really? Why’s that?” “Well, the other engineers—they said that you’re one of them. So, you know. Engineering, and then astronomy—I guess I didn’t think you’d, well…” He was realizing he was not making much sense. Discomfort flashed on Kai’s face. It came and went like a candle flame, but burned bright enough for a split-second—long enough for Cypress to catch sight of it, recognize it, and pull himself back. “Anyway, uh… What’s it about?” If Kai was grateful for the shift in topic, they didn’t show it. Instead, they quietly regarded Cypress with their pupilless eyes. Cypress stared back, trying not to fidget. He sensed he was being gauged, though for what purpose, or by what parameters, he did not understand.  After a few seconds, Kai said, “Do you happen to know the purpose of this observatory? What it was built for?” “Er… well, it’s definitely for observing space.” “Right, but what specifically?” Shaking his head, Cypress tried not to glower in embarrassment. Truthfully, he’d never asked when he’d first transferred. As far as he could tell, the lens in the main observation room pointed towards only a rather boring quadrant of the cosmos. Sure, it was full of stars, but what quadrant wasn’t? Kai didn’t laugh, but an amused gleam came into their eyes, and all trace of that shadow from before was gone. “It’s not too terribly complicated, if I’m being honest. Anyway, Station Thirteen was specifically built not to observe just space in general, but a very specific event: comets.” “Comets?” Cypress repeated.  “Yes, but not just any. You see, there’ve been reports, as outlined in this books, dating back decades of two particular comets who keep passing by the planet with such regularity, it’s almost uncanny. Not even Princess Luna, back when she was ruling alongside her sister, could speak to their origin, and you know she knows her stuff—Princess of the Night and all. What’s particularly interesting, however, is that these comets are pretty new; that is, they were only discovered relatively recently compared to older star charts and the records from ancient astronomers dating back to the time of Starswirl the Bearded. We’re not really sure where they came from, or where they broke off from. So this facility was built in an attempt to get as much data about them, when they come into our view, and see if we can’t figure that out.” Kai tapped the book. “I wanted to read up before I transferred here. I thought it might be useful. Plus, I’ve always wanted to see them myself. That’s why I asked to transfer here. At least, it’s part of the reason I—” Kai cut themselves off abruptly. An embarrassed pink came over their cheeks, and they ducked their head. “I, ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to ramble.” “You don’t need to apologize,” Cypress said, smiling. “No, that was rude of me. I mean, rambling. Nopony likes it when I ramble, so I ought not to. And besides, you probably didn’t come here just to hear me ramble, did you?” Privately, Cypress marveled at how quickly Kai seemed to fluctuate between moods. They seemed young, in this way—not necessarily volatile or unstable, but uncertain of themselves, and wearing that uncertainty on their non-existent sleeve. A part of him wanted to address the issue of rambling, but another recognized a closed door when he saw one; he doubted prying it open now would be a good idea. “You’re right in at least one regard,” he said. “I didn’t come here just to talk about comets—not that I mind. But I wanted to ask you something else.” “Oh?”  The yarn he gave was similar to what he had given to the other engineers. “I’m not sure what my cousin is building, per se, but he asked me to ask around, see what others had to say,” he concluded. Kai looked expectantly at him. “And that’s it?” “Er. Yeah. Why?” Kai tapped the book in an inquisitive manner. “It’s just… well, it doesn’t seem like you could build anything, big or small, with just that. How many components did your cousin say he had?” After some hesitation, Cypress told Kai how much he’d discovered missing. Kai looked unsatisfied. “Not good?” he asked. “Well, it’s not bad, but it’s not great, either. Your cousin would need a lot more of, well, everything, and then some, before they could start putting something together.” Cypress couldn’t contain a sigh of relief. Whether he could find the source of the missing supplies, at least he was certain nothing harmful could come out of them. “I’m surprised your cousin didn’t realize that, though,” Kai continued. “Granted, not everycreature is a polymath, but I can’t help but think it’d be a little… obvious, you know?” Cypress paused, considering. It certainly should have been obvious, assuming the thief had only just started. Perhaps caution had compelled them to take it slow. Yet the timing of it felt significant, and Cypress couldn’t imagine that, if someone was going to great lengths to steal such items, they’d happily take their time. “Perhaps he simply doesn’t know better,” Kai mused. This could equally have been true, Cypress supposed. If that was the case, then, perhaps catching them would be easier than he expected. “Yes, perhaps…” He could feel Kai’s gaze settle on him, waiting for more. “Well,” Cypress said, getting up and managing a smile, “thank you for that. I’ll, uh, see to passing that information along.” Kai blinked. “Already? Oh, all right. You’re welcome.” But Cypress had already gotten out of his seat, head swirling still with questions.