Chapter 10: OmSaEe

The door slid shut behind Pen and blended with the other three plain gray walls, ceiling and floor. “Nicole, they have you too? Do they have the others?” Nicole acknowledged his presence with an agitated look. “Yeah, in separate cells. They assured me everyone is well kept,” she uttered.

“Why didn't you leave me and escape this wretched planet?” he asked as he sat beside her, mirroring her cross-legged position on the floor of the claustrophobic cell. She faced her body away from him and rolled her eyes. “I didn't exactly get the chance, but I wouldn't have just left you either,” she objected. “They took your pen. It seems they know it's something, but they kept asking me how to get it open, so I don't think they've figured it out.”

“They won't figure it out. Well, I'm glad to see you're okay, anyway,” he expressed, leaning towards her to view her face as he rubbed his bare neck. Nicole cleared her throat, looking down at her nails. “You too, especially considering your apparent inclination for self destruction,” she chided.

Pen leaned in closer, brows lowering and coming together to form the marked confusion on his face. “What?”

Nicole scoffed, “You heard me.” The madman's confusion turned to a scowl, “Heard you, doesn't mean I understand you.” She sniffed at him, standing up and walking as far away as she could, which was about five feet. She clacked her nails against the solid wall that was once a door. “Some genius you are.”

Pen stood up as well, mouth open and breathing quickening. “I never promised you I was a genius! But I do happen to have a brilliant mind, not that it's any of your concern or decision. Intellect isn't measured by how much one can understand the reasoning behind your insults!”

“Apparently intellect is also not measured by common sense or human decency,” she shot back, her voice droning but her eyes full of venom.

“No, it's not. Besides, I'm not human!” he exclaimed, his freckled cheeks reddening in growing agitation. Nicole dragged her nails on the wall, tracing the general area the door once was. “Obviously,” she snipped.

Pen caught her by the shoulder and gently turned her to face him. “I never asked for you to come here! As a matter of fact, I specifically told you not to! I'm sorry we're in this predicament but I refuse to be blamed for it!”

Nicole stomped her finely crafted green and purple checkered sneaker so strongly it echoed throughout the mostly empty prison. “That's not my problem you dumb alien!” she berated.

Pen let go of her and furiously ruffled both hands through his unkempt hair. “I don't get it!" He threw his arms out in her general direction, “Then why are you so mad at me?!”

“Because I like you!" Nicole yelled as she poked at his chest violently. Pen's arms lost all life and her leaned down so close he could feel her breath. “How does that make any sense??” Nicole met him with equal ferocity. “Seriously?! Aren't you some sort of mind reader or something?” She pointed at her head mockingly. “Read my mind!” Pen turned away, pouting. “It doesn't work that way!”

Nicole face palmed melodramatically. “Ohhh my god. Listen, it's because I like you that I'm so mad at you. I'm mad because you put yourself in danger. If you'd died and I wasn't there, I would have never seen you again!”

“If I died and you were there you would've never seen me again either!” Pen's demeanor shifted and he collapsed into the corner of the cell, raising his head at the ceiling. “Why do you care so much about me? You don't know who I am, who I really am, what I'm capable of.”

“I don't, not yet,” Nicole replied as she squatted beside him.

“How could you know? I don't even know who I am, or what I can do, only that I've had to do bad things for a long time,” he confessed with a frown as he investigated his hands. She smiled sadly and settled herself delicately against him, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Yes, but you're not a bad person, and you deserve a chance to prove that to yourself.” He looked down at her, his dark eyes glistening, “How do you know I'm a good person?” She looked up at him reassuringly. “Well, you saved my life. You care about my well being. I care about yours.” Pen rose a brow, hiding a small smile. “I caused that mess in the first place.”

Nicole gave him a quick hug before settling on his shoulder again. “But you know what that says about you?” He shook his head, “That I'm a bit of a screw up?” She snorted. “No! It says that you are a responsible person. You were caught up in a bad situation and accidentally got me caught up in it too, but you stuck around to do the right thing even after I was a jerk to you. You're caring, smart, interesting, passionate, a little suave-” Pen's eyebrow quirked and he looked at her, pleased. “Suave?” She gave him a warning face. “Only a little bit.”

His eyes lit up. “I would never have pegged myself for the refined gentlemanly type. Though now that you mention it, I suppose I am a bit of a 'lady killer'.” Nicole sat up and shoved his shoulder gently. “Lady killer? I said only a little bit! Don't let it go to your head or anything. You're still prone to stupid stunts, and most ladies won't go for that. Actually, now that I said that out loud, unfortunately I think they probably would.”

“Not you though, you most definitely don't like dangerous fellows,” he humored. She bit her lip, trying to stop grinning. “Definitely not.”

“Lady killer,” Pen repeated to himself. “La-dy killllerrr. Why do you people say that? 'Killer' says I kill people, which I don't.”

A small laugh escaped Nicole, “I don't know! It is kinda weird.”

The two stayed in amiable silence in the cell for a few minutes before Nicole quirked her head at him. “Hey, your collar is gone. How did that happen?” Pen chuckled at her, “I'm just that good.” She shook her head, amused. “Whatever! You're so full of yourself.” Pen cracked a smile. “Well, you're truly amazing.” Nicole blew a raspberry in her surprise and gave in to snorting laughter. “You don't really know me either it seems! I'm actually terribly ordinary.”

His smile only grew. “I happen to know you're impossible, someone who never takes no for an answer, practical, cool under pressure, reliable, and you have this way about you that is so... reassured.” She beamed, facing away from him to look at nothing in particular, “I guess that's true. Dad always said I'm really persistent,” she reflected. Suddenly, there was a noise like shifting stone and they both turned to look in the direction it had come from.

The cell opened and Maita entered, her face indecipherable. Pen and Nicole stood up, ready to defend themselves against her.

⚳

The red robed ash blond held up her hands peaceably and bowed with deep respect. “It seems we've had a misunderstanding. Please accept our apologies. We-” Nicole interjected, “Apologies? You held us against our will and you're just going to apologize!?”

Maita bowed again. “We've been holding you in order to discern your relationship to the Gorgonin government. Pen, your behavior during questioning, however, made it quite difficult for me to discern anything. And Nicole, your violent outburst made Jon lose a tooth and have quite the bloody nose. Despite this, a few facts have come to light, thanks to the most sensible member of your group. You were indeed unlawfully kept as a war prisoner, one of the many scientists who have been wiped from history in this past century of war. Am I not mistaken?”

The escaped man rose a brow and looked at Nicole, who frowned up at him with faked innocence, then he returned his eyes to Maita. “Yes,” he confirmed flatly.

“I can now see why you have been mistrustful of my questioning. I am sincerely sorry for any trauma we may have further brought on.”

Pen appeared to think it over, and then he smiled warmly, “Okay! I accept your apology.” Nicole bleated in protest before he stepped in front of her and she quieted, glaring at their former captor, “I'm sorry too, I guess.”

The hanor woman proceeded to explain as she ushered them out of the cell, “When I was at lunch with you, I saw the collar that was around your neck, a Gorgonin war prisoner's collar. Something in your nature made me wonder why you'd be locked up by the authorities. It didn't feel right. In addition, the collar was an older model, one that was no longer legal. That seemed quite suspicious to me. The Gorgonin government promised over twenty-five years ago they'd ceased all utilization of model 22 due to the excessively cruel treatments they facilitated.”

The ex-prisoner pressed his lips together, discomfited but forcing a smile. “Well, that is true but according to one tiny, small, very miniscule line of print, model 22 is still legal to use for dangerous asylum patients as long as they're in the care of the government. And I'm diagnosed as quite insane. Quite dangerous as well, though dangerous to whom I think is something you ought to wonder about. Gotta love legal loopholes; makes you wonder why we have rules in the first place. But anyhow, you were saying?” Nicole pressed a hand on his shoulder, concern written on her features. “But you're not crazy,” she contested.

Maita looked away ruefully, but forced herself to go on, “Ah, I didn't know that. So, at that point I wished to be certain, to find out the truth of the matter, but before I got a chance to look into things, the collar was activated, presumably by our waiter.”

Pen frowned thoughtfully, “How nice. So anyway, as much as I appreciate your saving me from the Gorgonin government, quite rightfully so I must admit, I've got things to see, people to uh- things to people- you know what I mean,” he grunted at himself, “Whatever. I've got to go. Where's my favorite pen? You took it from Nicole. I want it back.” Nicole prodded at him angrily from behind. “Oh, and of course I want my other two friends back please,” he hastily tacked on.

“You will get your friends back. First, tell us about this pen of yours. We know it's not an ordinary writing pen,” Maita asserted. Pen's eyes widened and he nearly seemed offended. “I should think not. It's very decorative!” Maita gave him a dull stare in reply, quite sick of him. “Are you always like this?”

“Like what?” Pen questioned. Neither lady answered him.

Maita became more specific, ignoring his question. “I just need to know, is it a weapon?” Pen's face went from daft to serious in less than a second's time. “Most things could be, in the wrong hands. And to be quite frank, I don't trust your hands. I don't even know them. So, I'd like my pen, that is indeed not intended to be a weapon, back into my hands so that it stays that way.”

“What does it do exactly?” Maita requested. Pen rubbed his chin in thought. “Well, I suppose I could tell you, but keep it between us, will you? It's a portable teleportation device of my own invention. That's how I got on New Hol. It's imprinted to my mind; no one else can use it but me.”

“I see. So you're saying that you invented a portable teleportation device. How is that even possible? You can't put the power required for it into a pen,” the blond insisted, “or is the power source remote?” He laughed. “Only partly. Generally, you'd be correct in assuming a pen couldn't hold that much energy, but I was working on a sort of power source that bends reality itself, facilitating my design perfectly.”

Nicole cleared her throat. “As interesting as that is, I'd like to be reunited with Sarah and Charlie, now.”

“They will be brought to us,” Maita assured, “It seemed Sarah had an anxiety related attack, and we've been treating it. Charlie is with her, and they'll be arriving here momentarily.”

“Who's 'we'?” Nicole inquired. Pen looked behind him and nodded to Nicole and then looked at Maita expectantly. “Yes, who is 'we'?”

The robed woman smiled with a hint of pride. “We are OmSaEe.” Nicole and Pen both cocked their heads in sync, “Who?”

“Ah, I see. You are not familiar with OmSaEe,” Maita realized. “Would you like me to explain?” The duo nodded their heads, and just then, coming in from the corner down the hall was Sarah and Charlie, both being escorted by another set of tall robed guards. No sooner than the friends caught sight of each other, they all ran up and group hugged. Sarah and Nicole teared up and Charlie was laughing joyfully as they were reunited at last.

Pen watched from afar with an emotional smile.

⚕

Nicole guided her friends over to Maita and Pen with a large grin on her face. The cute blond human looked up at the mad genius pitifully, her eyes still puffy. “Can we go home now?” Pen looked over at Maita. “I dunno Sarah. I'd really like to, but Maita here still has my pen. So, can we go home now?”

Maita nodded silently with a sympathetic frown, “Yes, you're free to leave anytime. Again, I apologize for scaring you all.” She gestured to one of the guards and he left to retrieve it. Nicole held Sarah's hand as she turned her attention on the mysterious woman once more. “I still want to know who you people are. I need an explanation,” she declared.

The redhead scratched his beard and gestured agreement, “Yeah, why'd you help us? What could you possibly want with this weirdo?” he pointed at Pen, and the madman seemed surprised. “What? Me?” Pen feigned hurt feelings and hung his head low, prompting Sarah to hug him and give Charlie the stink eye.

“We are OmSaEe, a pacifist, government-independent group of activists for peace in the Klaxoborgon galaxy, founded in Etronin, but anyone is welcome to join us. We protest against the bloated, corrupt Gorgonin government that rules over Etronin.”

“Ah, pacifists, like myself!” Pen happily exclaimed. Nicole snorted at her, “You've got to be kidding, right? You captured us at gunpoint!” she cried.

“I apologize. I admit there was some trickery involved. Those weren't guns; they were shields. I didn't correct you because it was convenient at the time,” Maita explained. Sarah crossed her arms with a pout, “It's still not very nice.”

The hooded woman lowered her head in what appeared to be shame. “Unfortunately, sometimes, we can't afford to be nice. The Klaxo-Hanor war has been raging for near a century now and many lives and resources have been lost in the process. We're afraid the long term effects may become irreversibly detrimental.”

“Many of us can't remember a peaceful life,” Pen added. Maita looked at the wall behind him with a hidden sadness. “Very true, and we're working towards facilitating peace talks between the Etronins and the Klaxoborgs, but the war mongering wealthy have been stopping any attempts to end this war, and they all but are the Gorgonin government at this rate. For the first seventy years of this war no one was even capable of successfully standing up to them.”

The humans twisted their faces in disgust. Charlie sighed, “We have people like that on Earth too.” Nicole concurred, “Too many people like that.”

Both hanor seemed saddened by their statement. “However,” Maita continued, “thirty years ago, a very famous scientist by the name Om Sai founded a company named SaEe, or I suppose very roughly translated, 'Sharing Wellness of Mind and Body', based solely in making inventions that benefited all beings, including those on the other side of the war. He didn't discriminate, not because it might have been good business or controversial, but because he genuinely thought it was the right thing to do.”

Pen nodded slowly as he rested a finger on his chin. “Sounds like a stand up kinda guy.”

The robed one acknowledged, “Yes, he really was. Bit of a recluse though, according to my mother. She could never get him to go out and just enjoy life. Though I really can't blame him, considering that both the Gorgonins and the Klaxoborgs were attempting to buy his genius so that he would give them the edge. In response, he closed SaEe and reformed all of his resources into an activist group, one that my mother and many others who originally worked for him joined.”

Nicole's eyes brightened. “Wow, he sounds like he's a really brave person. With someone like that around, this war will end sooner or later at least, right?” Her spaceman indicated thoughtful approval at that, but Maita simply sighed with shake of her head. “He died in an accidental explosion along with several others during a protest. Those who survived reformed and founded OmSaEe in his memory in order to continue his legacy.”

The guard returned and lifted the PIT device out of a small metal box. Pen watched it longingly and held out his hand as it was returned to him. With a little difficulty, he merely replaced it into his pocket rather than make a spectacle out of himself by kissing it in front of everyone.

“Home?” Sarah asked hopefully. Pen whipped it back out with an open mouthed smile, “Yeah. I think home sounds like a good plan. Thanks for having us, Maita. I hope to see you again soon. Oh wait, can I have the coordinates for a safe landing zone in this building?”

The OmSaEe members looked at one another and shrugged, then looked to their apparent leader, Maita, who looked deep in thought. “Well, I suppose we can make you one. We have the space.” She led them to an empty storage room. “This ancient building used to be a prison, long ago until it was forgotten. Only by hidden means do we access this place, so please keep the coordinates to yourselves. This from now on will be the teleportation center, founded just for you, in the name of our friendship.”

Pen nodded enthusiastically and ran to the center of the room to preset the coordinates. Maita smiled warmly at the three humans. “I hope you will all return here someday and relegate to me the fascinating tales of Earth.”

Charlie forced a little smile and assured her he would do so before walking towards Pen and mumbling under his breath, “fat chance.” Sarah stopped herself from giggling and Nicole smirked, giving him a little punch in the arm for his rudeness.

Pen finished up and looked to his new friends, “Ready to go?” he cheered. The group clamored as they prepared themselves for another reality bending trip across the universe.

₰

Maita watched yearningly as they disappeared from view and gave a small sigh to herself once they'd gone. “I'm going to bed everyone.” She turned around and headed back towards her room in the large, nearly vacant ancient underground building. While walking down the hall, the echoes of her footsteps seemed... off. She stopped.

Silence.

The ash blond hanor looked behind her and saw nothing. “Hello? Is someone there?” she murmured. The hall was still and quiet, and there was no answer, so she marched on. Again there was that strange sound. She walked faster, uncertain if she was being followed, or if it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

The crystalline lighting in the walls dimmed until the hall was nearly pitch black. Maita's heart began to pound within her chest and she ran as fast as she could, calling out “Someone, anyone? Can anyone hear me? Who's there?!” Her head pivoted all around her, now certain she was not alone, yet uncertain as to whom was following her.

She rushed to her room and commanded the light to turn on between panting breaths, but it did not respond. The power had gone out it seemed. “It's going to be a pain to repair,” Maita surmised. She quietly admonished herself for being so paranoid and began to look for a flashlight. During her search, she started to take notice of a strange, medicinal smell. The dark outline of her bed enticed her. She tried to shake off the blanket of tiredness, but it just grew infinitely heavier. Her anxiety level rose but was dampened by a foreign euphoria. The bed called again, its pull unavoidable, and before she even fell onto it, she was already unconscious.