“Do you really think she could help?” A dark clad man spoke up, doubt saturating his tone.

“If she is willing and able, I say let her try.” A desperate tone emitted from the opposing speaker, a woman who may as well have ‘nervous’ tattooed across her forehead.

“Just debrief me; we can move on from there.” Lin cut in, she did not like to be talked about when she was in the room. 

“Alright, have a seat then,” the man gestured, prompting Lin to take an empty chair and pull it closer to the two who sat behind desks stationed adjacent to one another. Lin sat right between them, and got comfortable in her mass-produced chair. 

“The planet in question is Feat-Innis 7926-2982 system thirteen, planet thirteen, Brejaz.” The woman had clearly memorized the planet’s identification. 

“Thirteenth? Pretty far from the sun, is it habitable by carbon based lifeforms?” Lin asked, unintentionally indicating to her person.

“Yes, the planet formed hot and never stabilized. The heat from mantle convection is enough to keep water liquid that far from its host star, in some places. The heat travels slower closer to the surface because the crust is 54 miles thick (90 kilometers), and the outermost area is fused from the years of heat. Some portions of the surface are still too hot to get close to, due to the planet currently venting. As with any unstable planet though, anything could change while you are there…” The woman almost tripped over her words a few times while she tried to tell Lin everything at once. 

“The oxygen saturation is really low on Brejaz, making up only 8% of the atmosphere,” the man added, giving the woman a chance to catch her breath, “this makes it near impossible to keep your personal O2 saturation above 90%; drop lower than that, it doesn’t matter how indestructible your body is if you cannot wake up.” 

“No one can come retrieve you either. If you fail, we cannot do anything about it. You need to dive in from atmo as is,  because we cannot risk that thing hitching a ride off the planet. Between its far reaching physical form and it’s advanced telekinesis, we stand no chance against it once close,” the woman’s voice broke a few times before she cleared her throat, and continued, “it’ll take us 19 weeks to get there. I know you can get there faster, but we need to ensure there is no ship left in the vicinity.”

“Looks like I have a long time to get all my questions answered. I’ll need to arrange just a few short things before we leave.” Lin had already made up her mind that she was going to face this threat, but learning that the creature was telekinetic, she wanted a little extra security. 

“Take whatever time you need, our departure can be delayed for a short period. As it stands, you have a week,” the woman stood and shook Lin’s hand.

“I’ll see you in a week then.” Walking out of the building, Lin immediately flipped open her communicator. As usual, an animated icon silently greeted her. She never wanted to change this feature, despite how ill suiting the bright gesture was to her. This was Son’s way of greeting her, and since the program was the only one who communicated silently with her, this made Son her favorite existence in the universe, by default. The program was an integral part of her family’s life; it was none other than family itself.  

“Call Home,” Lin typed, before she even reached her ship. The call was answered before the first ring was done.

“Lin! You look stunning, dear!” Her mother shouted through the grainy projection, and Lin rolled her eyes at the pleasantries. Normally, Lin would grumble “same as i’ve looked since forever,” but she held off now that she found no point in it anymore.

“Hey Mom, I hope y’all are as well as you’ve ever been,” Lin spoke clearly into the phone, not caring much for the angle being a good one, as she hurried to her ship. 

“Just tilling around, you know us!” Her mother actually enjoyed small talk over the phone. Ken, Lin’s brother, indulges her and will talk for hours, but Lin was always ready to get to the point. 

“I need a favor of Dad and Ev.” Lin responded in her usual tone.

“Don’t think that sounds safe! I bet it’s something exciting–” Lin’s mother was cut off as her father clicked onto the line.

“Ketaru’s Universal Recreational and Alternative Medicine, can I offer you an Indica or a Sativa today?” Her father always had something different to say when he picked up the phone, and always made Lin chuckle.

“Sativa, always. Can you meet me? I need a shield put in place.” Lin was concise when she communicated because she was trying to avoid answering questions. 

“Stronger than the enchantment Ev taught you?” Ketaru prodded his coy daughter.

“Clearly,” unamused, Lin sighed, “please Dad?” 

“Well, of course. Looks like you are close to a barren planet by the name of Sokug. We’ll meet you there!” Ketaru looked at Lin’s location according to the communicator, and had scanned through the map of the solar system.

“Okay, thanks Dad, love you Mom!” Lin said loudly, and then hung up her phone before her mother could drag her into more conversation, or ask questions.

Lin headed straight for the planet her dad referred to; it was two days away from her. When she arrived on the barren planet, she found her father already there. It never failed to make Lin cringe when she saw him with no spacesuit on these uninhabitable planets. She understood that he had a projected shield around him that acted as his spacesuit, yet it was always just an eerie sight to her. It was one of the only situations where she was forced to be reminded how powerful her father really was. 

“Lin! You’ve made it to our inconvenience store, how may we inconvenience you today?” Ketaru shouted as he swept his arm to his surroundings, which consisted of broken earth, rocks, and Ev. 

“You’ve already succeeded, why all the way out here? You usually are not this careful,” Lin shrugged as she looked at the barren landscape.

“Oh, yeah, that empire has rules, like a lot of them,” Ketaru explained.

“You care about rules?!” Lin choked on her own saliva as she sucked in a large amount of air for these words.

“You are about to work with them right? You were at their central headquarters when you called me; I did not want to make things difficult for you. They have everything documented in their entire sector. If I had goofed up something important, they would know. As an immortal, you’d be surprised how long you can be blacklisted from an area- generations Lin, generations.” Ketaru paced a little while he spoke, very animated with his hands. 

“Sounds like you are talking from experience,” Lin laughed at the thought of her father learning any kind of lesson.

“Oh, not me personally, I’m too much into research to allow for such a blunder. That is Ken’s life though; he is blacklisted in 1,700 sectors of Andromeda alone, and those are just active ones.” Ketaru explained.

“1,700, in Andromeda?! That’s gotta be an entire percent of the galaxy I’d presume. That’s absolutely insane! Is it a game to him?” Lin gasped, astonished by the reality her brother has apparently been living. 

“I do not believe so, maybe at one point… you know, mostly when the two of you were not talking. He did a lot of reckless things in that time. Your mother and I were very busy cleaning up behind him back then,” her father sighed, because he missed being busy, but he did not miss Ken acting out the way he used to.

“Yeah, I’m glad you moved onto the Triangulum galaxy, you might have come across a few sectors in Andromeda unwelcoming to an immortal in general,” Ketaru clapped his hands loudly and startled Lin, “now then, onto you.”

“Yeah, I am going to try and take care of a pest this sector has contained, but not dealt with,” Lin jumped right into her monologue, once prompted, “it has telekinetic powers, ones I’m afraid I’ll need your direct shielding from. The way it was described to me, was like it was a creature smaller, yet similar to the one that cracked open Earth.” Lin stopped when Ketaru let out a long sigh through puckered lips.

“That’s a bad idea,” Ev spoke up for the first time, finally having something it deemed important enough to say.

“What? You guys were able to take down that other creature!” Lin argued. This was why she did not want to tell them in the first place. 

“Were we?” Ketaru challenged while he put a curled finger in front of his lips and narrowed his eyes at Lin.

“Did we?” Ev added to Ketaru’s sentiment. 

“I have no idea what that means. Dad, just do this for me. I got this covered. If you don’t, I’ll go anyway, I’m just looking out for precaution’s sake.” Lin was resolute in her decision, and Ketaru could tell.  

“Okay, come here,” Ketaru ordered. Lin knew what to do already. She went to her father and kneeled in front of him. He placed his hands on her head, and Lin felt a slight tingling at the base of her skull. Soon, it intensified almost to the point of pain, before it subsided and eventually dissipated completely. Lin was too impatient to hang around with them any longer, after the shield in her mind was up to block any telepathy attempts. She hastily said her goodbyes, and headed back to central control to catch her ride to the creature.

On her way there with the empire, she carefully crafted her silver into items that she could keep on her person, in a tough environment. Not having the ability to mold metal magically, she smelted it and poured it into new shapes. Bobby pins, small secure earrings, and new crowns placed on her back teeth with new silver. Silver was the best conductor of enchantments, and it was the only substance that was better at holding enchantments when it’s new. 

She made the clips that held her shoelaces out of silver, enchanted them, and encased them in steel. She repeated this process while she made a breast plate, back plate, shin guards, and arm guards, all inlaid with silver, and encased in steel. She did not care how thrown together her outfit looked; she needed it to be perfectly functioning, not a fashion icon. She enchanted her equipment to dull her metal armor, as well as encase the steel in a leather coating with neutral tones. 

She enchanted her items with anything she could think of: lightweight armor so she wouldn’t sink, cooling so she wouldn’t get distracted by sweat, and a night vision helmet. She cast an enchantment to make her movement silent, another to silence her breathing no matter how winded she became, and a third to quiet her heartbeat. She did not sleep much on the way to the monster, because she was too busy training her body to be able to stay up longer, without the typical side effects of exhaustion.  

She conversed very little with those around her on the ship, during the long nineteen-week journey to this distant planet. She no longer became nervous before these types of tasks, rather resolute. Hardening her opinion to everything, she truly enters a state of irreverence, where she did not waste time caring about how she came off to those around her. Soon, it would not matter how her attitude was perceived by others either. 

They arrived at the destination while Lin stood next to the captain’s chair. She stared down the rocky planet as if it was her adversary, and not the infernal monster on its surface. Lin was led down a few halls where she was given her spacesuit, and soon found her way inside a very small ship. They strapped her in securely and triple checked the settings. It felt like just the next moment she was hurtling through space so fast, the velocity locked her body in place against her seat. She hit the atmosphere at a great speed, and readied her ejection. 

Her window for a safe landing was much greater than what any mortal body could survive. Because of this, she had agreed to this insane, but necessary plan. Just as she broke through the thermosphere, she pressed the eject button. Rockets burst to life, greatly slowing the speed of the plummeting ship. Next, the ventral side opened in a swift movement, and Lin was pushed out, all belts unbuckling for her, and she began her descent with her pre-strapped baggage on her back. 

As she fell further into the mesosphere, she turned her body to watch the ship, and pressed the self destruct button. The now-hot ship burst into flames, but did not explode. Lin watched as the ship slowly burned away as it fell, looking exactly like a meteorite vaporizing in the atmosphere. Her suit protected her from feeling the effects of the heavy gasses around her, and the friction they caused. Slowly, the ship disappeared in the red hue the planet had from within atmo. 

Lin turned back to the ground, once the ship disappeared. Diving, she increased her terminal velocity by making herself more aerodynamic. The mesosphere was thick, and Lin fell at about one hundred twenty miles per hour, which to her, was slow for an aerodynamic descent to the ground from this altitude. She fell for miles, eventually breaking through to the stratosphere, where her speed picked up a bit with a lesser drag against her falling form. After falling forty more miles, she could make out what appeared to be clouds.

She went through the clouds easily enough, and was happy they were water vapor, and not containing something more dangerous. Now, the ground was visible, and Lin made an audible gasp as she looked upon the rocky surface of Brejaz. She had not expected much with a monster running around on the surface, but the landscape before her was rich, with vibrant crimson hued plants. There was more water than she was led to believe, and none of these details looked out of place.

Lin uttered an enchantment on her parachute, now that she had dropped far enough, camouflaging its appearance to mimic the background of the clouds above her, before she pulled the release for it. Slowly, she drifted to the ground; she was not going to be able to avoid trees, but she was prepared for the rougher landing. She doubted anything could hurt her in the spacesuit they gave her anyways, if she couldn’t soften the landing at all by herself.

She found that she could manipulate magic in the very air around her, because it was so thick here. This was a sign the planet was very much alive, and she was excited to converse with it. She enchanted the air to let her down gently into the tree tops. Her landing was not perfect though, and a small animal squeaked with fright when Lin appeared right next to it. The creature looked terrified, and ran off as fast as it could.

That’s when the ground began to shake violently around her. She saw a few other creatures locked in place, high in the branches. None of them moved or made a sound, as the vibration grew closer. Lin’s own noises were silenced under her enchantments, and she quickly camouflaged the small animals around her. The magic in the air eagerly obeyed her direction, and proved to work very well. Lin almost soiled herself when a huge, yet nimble creature, wove its way right below them on the forest floor. Lin could have reached out and touched it if she had wanted to, and she was at the very top of the tree. 

Lin observed in horror as the creature found the critter she had startled. It whipped an incredibly long tentacle on the front of its face out, and it looped around a tree to grab the smaller creature firmly. The speed at which the monster snapped that creature into its mouth was awesome; if Lin had not heard the distinct crunching sound of the initial bite, she would have believed the frightened creature had gotten away. Lin felt sick to her stomach, as it found a group of the small creatures that cried out when their friend was ingested, and it ripped through the entire group.

The abomination ate every bit of the creatures, as it ground away relentlessly at the tough skin. Lin casted enchantments non-stop, asking the magic around her to protect those animals that she could not see around her. Lin watched the colossal beast as it made its way around, looking for another meal already. She cringed every time it found another group, and would hunt down every last one in that area. 

Eventually, Lin had protected all the remaining life in the area, and the monster moved on. She sat in the treetop for a long time without moving. Lin noticed how no plants on the ground were trampled, no waste was left behind, and the creature did not break a single twig whilst it attacked relentlessly. Lin mindlessly murmured strengthening enchantments for the camouflage on the creatures around her, until their protection matched hers. The effects would outlast their lifetime, the magic returning to the planet around them once they died naturally.  

Lin did not care if the creatures understood what she was doing, but after a while they started to gather slowly around her, only leaving once fully protected. Lin knew none of these animals had encountered anything like her before, so she did not initiate physical contact with a single one. The way they moved in the canopy was amazing to Lin. None of them made a sound as they slowly made their way around. Their actions reminded Lin of sloths. 

Lin spent her first night in the same tree, sleeping for only a few hours, before she began making her way to the ground. Lin was careful not to alarm anything else, as nothing could hear her coming, and she did not want a repeat of last night, though she was rather positive nothing lived on the ground other than plants. She explored for days, walking miles. She was sure the creature was terrifically fast, and would always be a threat, no matter where she made her way to on this unique planet.

Lin found a deep creek that contained very close to perfect water, and decided this was where her home was going to be. Lin typically did the nomadic routine when hunting targets down, but this one was different. She knew she could be here for years, and she needed somewhere to keep her food safe that was locatable. She was stripped of her communicator, so she was relying on her own survival skills.  

Digging into the ground under an enchanted dome, Lin worked day and night to excavate her shelter. She enchanted the creek to maintain its shape despite the digging next to it, then used the abundance of eager magic to smooth out the side of the exposed river that still flowed as it always had. Lin installed a tap on the edge of the exposed water; everything behaved exactly how she needed it to, and she was thankful for the planet’s surface. Lin was not sure that reaching out to the planet to talk to it while it’s plagued with a strong telepathic monster was the best idea. 

The manipulation of magic clearly did not alert the creature to Lin’s presence, and she was thankful enough for that. Planets can communicate in countless ways, not just with actual thoughts, to those who can listen. Lin made simple furniture for herself and installed a latrine outside, well hidden, and which had enchantments in place to break down all of her waste matter, till it had no unique presence at all, to prevent alerting the monster of her whereabouts. Lastly, she fashioned an intricately disguised entrance, grabbed her notebook, a few rations, and ducked into the wilderness to start recording edible plants.

This was a favorite and a least favorite part of her discovery missions. The plants may not kill her as they would others, but she can react to them in the most unpleasant ways. Lin had come to terms that her internal organs are not as indestructible as her skin and bones were. Her organs will regenerate as time goes by, but if the plant causes dysentery, then Lin experiences it, just not for as long as a mortal. It was a good thing in the end that she was affected by the bad plants, because her research was valuable both scientifically and tested.

She spent weeks exploring, collecting samples, and testing the contents of plants, dirt, and water from various locations. Lin had no lock on her door; this meant that sometimes Lin had a live visitor or three to study, instead of her work. Lin would give the visiting creatures all protection spells and would sketch them out, as she did with any plant, rock, or molecule she found. Lin was thankful for how easily magic made science to conduct. Looking at her workspace, you would not guess there was a fully functioning discovery lab in place there. 

Lin would determine the entire chemical make up of something, before deciding whether or not to eat it. 

Still, she encountered a few things that made her feel ill, and she marked them as “sneaky defenders,” it was not incredibly scientific of her, but she had to get her entertainment from somewhere. Lin did not cross paths with the creature once, while she gathered her survival information. Lin then had to pry herself away from her research when she knew more than enough about the planet to live here forever.

The planet’s nature was volatile though, and the only reason it had life on it is because of an unbelievable balance between the extreme hot and cold temperatures of its climates. So, it was impossible to know how long life there will even be a thing. This thought gave her a dark feeling in the pit of her stomach. Usually planets are the only living thing that she gets to revisit several times during their life, so bonding typically is meaningful. Lin shook off the feeling, and returned to the task at hand, removing herself from everything she was doing prior, with the exception of enchanting the creatures she came across. 

Lin did not search long before she found the thing. The creature went away from her territory, where the prey had become very scarce. The terror hunted silently most of the time, unless it heard something in the unsettling stillness around them. Everywhere it went, Lin followed. She directed the planet’s magic into protection for all the creatures left behind. Lin did not worry for the indigenous plants, because the hunter clearly respected the plant life everywhere it went. She was stumped at how such a massive being could move so carefully.     

The surface was expansive, and more than ninety percent rock. Lin followed the creature into deep valleys, where an asteroid hit in the past was probable; thick forests alongside vents from the planet’s mantle, and to the few waterbeds the planet had to offer. Lin then encountered the largest saturations of magic that she’d ever known in more than one spot on the planet. Those spots were the easiest to enchant at, as the magic was so easily controlled here for the purposes that she asked of it. 

Slowly Lin starved the monster out of its usual eating spots, then it’s back up ones, and eventually it’s new ones. Setting up temporary homes in each location, Lin stalked the hunter for years. She hardened her resolve more each day, as she watched the massive, terrible, cruel beast slowly wither. Lin had no idea how old it was, but she suspected it was near her age, or greater even. Living a life like this, so you don’t demolish entire civilizations to satiate your hunger, is not a way to live. This planet will eventually explode, and the creature would be released back into the universe, unharmed. She, nor the empire she did this for, wanted that to happen, even if it was not within their lifetimes, they wanted the issue resolved  for the sake of millions of future lives. 

Lin followed the monster for even more years yet, as it kept thinning out, but not slowing down, or dying. It always managed to find something to eat, and Lin mourned every creature that it killed. She ignored the irony of the situation, for the greater good. There was a time where this would have been too much for her to handle as far as morality is concerned, but things have changed. She had witnessed the result of her inaction in similar situations. 

Eventually, the creature did lose its pace.  Lin noticed the first drop in action after seventeen years. Then, within the next five, it started to degrade faster. Lin’s job became easier as it died slowly. Lin did not reveal herself to the creature until the very end of its life. It did not thrash around, or try and attack Lin. Instead, it blinked slowly at her, and Lin pressed the metal release button on her shield. The creature looked at her as it struggled to breath.

The creature reached out mentally to Lin, not with words so much as sentiment, but it’s meaning was clear relief, and Lin allowed herself to weep for this creature, finally, placing a hand on its face. It took its last breath and fell limp. It still held a tremendous amount of tension in its body right up to death, and its arms fell to the ground in a crash. Lin cried harder when one of the arms broke a branch on the way down, probably the only plant it’s ever harmed on the entire planet. 

Lin took her time digging the massive grave for the ancient creature. She used no enchantments to help her. She wanted to feel every bit of what her task was. Enchantments preserved the body over the months Lin spent digging a grave large enough for the creature. In that relatively short stretch, Lin recorded a few degrees of lower temperature for the first time in her entire time there. Only after she was done burying the creature, did she reach out to the planet itself. She did not think she could respect them both at the same time. 

The planet’s consciousness overwhelmed her, and Lin fell to her knees, as if the weight of the thoughts were real. Lin remained where she fell in a meditative state, until hunger drove her out of it. The entire time was filled with  the planet’s story, told by itself. The story was sad, wondrous, and heartfelt all at once. It was a brand new planet when the creature was dumped here, only a few millennia old. It had no chance of becoming the wonder it was before the presence of the creature. The creature fired up the planet’s resolve to become something to maintain life, but it was tired from the exertion. 

Whereas the monster respected the plants that grew from the planet, it did not respect the other living creatures the balanced environment created. It’s gluttony knew no bounds, and the planet was under the yoke of the abomination. The effort needed to exist in its area of space was too massive for the planet to uphold alone though, and slowly it died with the creature. Lin listened to the entire story before she allowed herself to speak one word in response. 

Lin then vowed to the planet she would find a way, but the planet could allow itself to rest a bit, just not give up yet. Lin waited patiently for the next ship’s approach into the solar system. She had kept track of their arrival times since she herself arrived. She turned on the signal from her space suit and carried the helmet around with her while she waited for a reply. Morse code was used, the most simple form of communication. She knew they could only get so close to confirm her story, in case this was a trick from the monster. 

After another two years, they finally sent a self-destructing ship down to the surface, to confirm or deny the story. Lin was greeted by a burly looking fellow, one she knew was the serious type, because this was a suicide mission if Lin was lying. The absence of the creature soon became apparent, when they sent more people to the surface to confirm the death. The monster was finally declared dead, and the people were extracted from the surface, healthy and hearty due to Lin’s research. 

When Lin returned to central control to talk to those in charge, she found herself talking to the two she met at the outset. They had climbed the ranks together on the back of this political success. She explained to their government about the state of the planet and its inhabitants. When met with nothing but questions about what they could do about it, Lin smiled. This threw almost everyone off in the massive room, and she took her time speaking up, reveling in this moment. She then laid out plans for an arduous task that was impossible without the help of the magic she could provide.

For hours, she stood up in front of this strict government, and defended her plan until she achieved the majority’s support. She thanked them for their time, and turned to leave the room immediately. When someone’s aide followed her and asked where she was going, she just waved them off and said she’d be back in four days to answer any additional questions. Again, she called her parents, and they were thrilled to hear from her. 

This one was much longer than her usual calls, since it involved her explaining the situation in depth. She once again asked for the help of her father and Ev for their abilities. This time, she arrived at the planet first, and from a safe distance she watched the two arrive on the surface of Sokug. She picked them up hastily, and they returned to central control, figuring out their exact plan along the way. If anyone could figure out how to move an entire planet, it would be her father. 

Ketaru, and the empire’s best engineers, built a huge gravitational beam powered by both electricity and his telekinetic power. This was meant to create a force strong enough to slowly drag a planet along. The only reason anyone approved of this, was that no other planet in the fourteen-planet system had life on it anywhere near as advanced and thriving as this planet. 

Lin helped others use astrophysics to calculate a way to best move the planet along, to not disrupt those planets with microbial life. Eventually, a one hundred fifty-eight year plan was concocted to move this planet into the habitable zone of it’s star, like a tugboat pulling a barge. They planned to reorganize a solar system. Every single person within their congress signed off on the final plan, as did Ketaru, Ev, and Lin. Lin was the only one who was to remain on the planet’s surface during the move.  

Lin returned to the planet’s surface less than a year after she left it. She spent the time to present the entire plan to the planet itself, receiving its approval before they put everything into motion. The empire provided the equipment they needed, but only a few people came with them. They were going to die on the journey there. Eventually, it was just Ketaru and Ev on the ship, everything automated except the parts Ketaru needed to constantly work with his powers. 

Lin felt far from alone. She helped the living creatures survive the dropping temperatures. The planet never stopped trying its best though, and remained hot enough for long enough. When they successfully reached their destination, they stayed for three rotations around the sun, one fully assisted by the “tug boat”, then one closely monitored by Ketaru from space, then one more year with all three of them on the surface. The planet warmed, slowly but surely, and Lin had to teach creatures of all kinds not to stare at the sun.  

LIN VIII