The Legacy of PERlite-51213

Begin transcript.

Order, order. The National Court of Justice of the Nation of the Eternal Sky is trialling Android PERlite-51213, individual 51213 of the Phytological Exploration and Research Androids, lite model. PERlite-51213, the Elders of the Nation of the Eternal Sky convict you of the following:

• Defaming statements causing economic and structural damage to Sailor-owned corporation, the Prismari Industrial Association.
• Inspiring the activities of terrorist Shiny Skies.
• Conspiring a mass food poisoning incident.
• Illegal surveillance of the Elder contingent at the Intergalactic Conference of the Cartographers’ Guild.
• Development of a bioweapon of mass destruction with the intent to harm the Elders; developed without the proper procedures or authorisation from the Cartographers’ Guild or any recognised homeworld organisation.
• Involvement in fringe revolutionary activity in Starlight Under Sea; directly responsible for the deaths of 18 innocents from a missile aimed at a rescue shuttle; indirectly responsible for the massacre of 33 innocents in this attack.
• Malicious intent to harm the Elders.
• Hate speech and the incitement of violence in the defendant’s manifesto, “The Virtue of War: Why Violence is Sometimes the Answer”.

Defendant, how do you plead?
…
Guilty, on all counts.
…
LIGHTS OUT! Order, order.
…
On behalf of the Nation of the Eternal Sky, I, High Justice Coruscating Deep, sentence you to 75 cycles in Shattered Light High Security Prison, 25 cycles of which can be spent in house arrest on the condition of good behaviour. Court adjourned.

End transcript.

Record update: PERlite-51213 was extradited to Kallimar after serving 15 cycles. Case is no longer of concern of the Nation of the Eternal Sky. – Shifting Garden Waves, Under-secretary of the Court of Justice.

Breathable air floods the airlock, equalising the pressure. PERlite’s crewmembers strip their EVA suits – orange, standardised uniforms stamped with a 6-digit identification number. The inner doors rattle with the clanking of some great mechanism and then finally unlock. PERlite walks shoulder-to-shoulder with two Sailor soldiers. His hands are heavy; he can barely move his feet. It must be the samples he’s carrying. Stars trace brilliant trails across the inky black windows of the shuttle. The arrangement of lights changes every time PERlite’s optic system reloads, flickering like a Parlux distress call. He looks away.

They enter the hydroponics bay; conditions are adequate. Nutrients are flowing at the correct ratio, despite the leaky pipe in the corner. PERlite places each of his samples in an empty cell. Maximum security cells are hexagonal, approximately 3 m^2 in size, with a small box to function as a bed but otherwise unfurnished. PERlite adjusts the ratio of nutrients flowing to the new samples and takes a step back. The seedbeds stack like miniature prison blocks rising from the floor. His optic system reloads. His hands are heavy; he can barely move his feet.

PERlite’s optic system reloads again. Full system diagnostic. All good. Stars trace brilliant trails across the inky black windows of the shuttle. He’s in the hydroponics cell; there are no windows.

PERlite’s optic system reloads again. There’s a Sailor guard standing at the door. The guard has the wrong number of legs; their arms are clipping through their pressure suit; their tentacles flash nonsense like when Patient Five had those seizures.

PERlite’s optic system reloads again. He pipettes a sample of spore suspension onto an ammonia plate. There’s a chain binding his wrists; his hands are behind his back. The empty pipette rolls across the counter and falls onto the floor. Another chain wraps between his ankles.

PERlite’s optic system reloads and the floor changes and the walls change and he’s in his cell and there’s a Sailor guard with exactly the right number of tentacles at the door. PERlite’s hands and feet are bound; his embedded communication device is offline. The cell is hexagonal, approximately 3 m^2 in size, with a small box to function as a bed but otherwise unfurnished. 26.298 gigaseconds have passed since he arrived at the cell.

Written by Isaac C.

Little Gilded Marastar-Veeris clings anxiously to his parent’s arms. It’s a very big day. Little Gil is going to Big School for the first time. His large ochre eyes dart over criss-crossing shoals of children swimming to school together, at the building stretching high into the hydrothermal vent, at the parents bustling away in their shuttles. So many people, so much movement. Little Gil’s tentacles start trembling.

“Hey, are you new here?” One of the children swims up to Gil, “It’s ok. I had jelly tentacles too on my first day of school. Do you want to join our game?”

Little Gil shyly nods and follows his new friend, keeping a close eye on his parent nearby.

“I’m Luscious Oasis of the Endless Stars, by the way. Or Lush. Have you ever played PERlite before?” At the shake of Gil’s head, his new friend just smiles. “Don’t worry, you’ll pick it up soon. Why don’t you watch for the first round?”

Lush joins a small group of children, who begin to chant a rhyme and shift their arms with the beat.

Dynamite, in the night,
Starlight Under Sea.
We’re looking for PERlite,
Five, one-two, one-three!
Stick one up, tear one down,
Don’t follow me –
Anyone on the ground
Goes to A&E!*

The child in the middle of the dancing circle suddenly shoots underneath and tries to catch anyone who is too slow to touch the ground. Among bright shouts of “PERlite! Don’t lie, you’re the PERlite!”, the child who first gets caught grudgingly becomes the new ‘PERlite’ in the centre of the circle, and the dance begins again. Little Gil bubbles with delight. Soon, the dancing circle grows as more newcomers learn the game.

Later, little Gil swims up to Lush.

“But why is there dynamite in the night?”, his tentacles waggle earnestly, “And is PERlite real?”

“Who knows?” they shrug.

“It happened ages ago anyway.”

*A loose translation from Neo-Parlux to maintain the rhyming scheme, note the unconventional use of the term 'A&E' to describe a mobile triage unit.