Jackeye waited in silence as C1313 stared blankly at the shelves of fossil fuel, communicating with the Space Spoon. In a fit of boredom, he leaned his head over the counter to take a breather. There were too many people around, and by "people," he meant robots.There were so many that Jackeye could no longer differentiate between them. Most of the ones who appeared human wore torn or frayed clothes, but some wore none at all.“Tejeda says they can’t break through the Rurar’s defenses to land on that moon.” C1313’s report came in. “Can you hack in a console or something to give them an opening?”A serving robot carried a tray of drinks past them, so they paused for a while.Jackeye looked around. At the far end of the bar, there was a console. His eyes lit up for a mere second, and he could tell the system was easily breakable. He had been staring at it for a few seconds when he heard C1313 say, "You're not going to do anything rash, are you?"She was looking at him, and he asked him

The rotting smell arrived before the view. Tejeda had been the unlucky recipient of several deadly scents in his lengthy life, but none was quite like this.As he emerged out of the woodland at the edge of a cliff, his field of vision expanded. Standing on top of a large boulder, Tejeda scanned the surroundings. An open-world graveyard for anything organic that the non-organic beings on RK10 considered trash.A river of lava coursed around the cesspool, meandering between the piles of junk. The burned land around the ford showed that it flooded from time to time, which was how most of the trash got obliterated faster.The molten lava oozed slowly across the landscape. Dark red streams flowed from the ground, filling the cracks between the rocks before draining back into them.A swirling, blue sea perforated the beach up to the nearest channel of the lava river on the far left. Each time a fresh wave crashed into the searing stream, the water evaporated instantly, resulting in an inver

“Equal footing?” Tejeda smirked. “Why would I need to turn in a titanic lifeform when all I need to level out the play field is a tiny grain of sand?”“I don't know if I should be proud of myself or feel sorry for you.”“I'm sure you can find a way to do both.”Rahul laughed. When he spoke again, a terrible gust of wind rushed through the remnants of the cave, and saliva spilled from the monster's jaws.“I’m going to eat your body and pick my teeth with your silica core.”Tejeda sneered, displaying his gorgeous, regular human teeth. "Speak with your lips closed until you find a way to freshen up your breathing. It stinks!" He pulled out a bag and shook it in the air. "Do you know what I've got here?"Rahul opened his mouth wide and released an ear-splitting roar. “I don’t care!”His hand had grown large enough to pick up over a dozen Tejedas off the ground at once.Tejeda didn't even flinch as the razor-sharp claws wrapped around his torso, the arrogant sneer remaining on his face. He

A/N: Sunsetrise is a short story I've written before even starting the novel. It holds the ending of the first volume and is made up of 4 parts. The first 2 parts are from Tejeda's POV and the last 2 parts from Shayla's. Enjoy!***Tejeda Hajar's POV“Happy birthday, Shayla!” I invite her to sit on the blanket next to me with a pat.It took me about a week to create a perfect replica of Genoria Prime inside Jackeye's world.Once every two thousand years, Genoria Prime, a water planet with just a few stretches of land covered in sand, is perfectly aligned to get the ultimate romantic view. One of its suns sets while the other rises, a phenomenon called sunsetrise.To recreate it from my memories inside Jackeye's virtual world involved a few setbacks. But that isn't important anymore.Shayla takes one of the glasses of red wine and fixes her dark green eyes on me. “Whose body are you wearing now?”“You know bodies are just meat suits for me.” I give a sly smirk, looking her over. “Well,

Shayla Bale's POVOnly Tejeda Hajar is capable of disappearing and leaving me with an ambassador’s corpse. Once again, I had to assume the role of acting captain and evade the Interplanetary Police. We are all renegades once more, as we were before Tejeda found us.The crew needs me to steer the ship in the right direction, but my thoughts are far away, following the faceless Nubilae who left us. I lean against the wall and stare at his empty chair, wishing he will appear there, smiling without giving me any explanation as he always does.“Thinking about him won’t bring him back,” E00’s voice echoes from the ceiling speakers. “If you want him here again, you must go after him.”“Don’t get me wrong, E00, I want to. But it was his choice. He left us. Even if I go after him, he may not come back.”“If there’s anyone who can shake him out of the state he’s in, you’re the one.”“Why must you torment me?” I slump in Tejeda’s chair, rubbing my eyes to forestall crying. The gesture is pointle