Waiting Shapeless

Chapter 41. Pareyline

Lliui: Stram

Officer Lliui Iuill Lliui sat back in his office chair studying some documents on a screen he had pulled up on his desk.

As a Major ranked officer within the PPF, he had many responsibilities. But the epidemic was undoubtedly his top priority when it came to work. Previously he had led a large team of PPF agents in several smaller cases over a general area in the Gallidon universe. So now and again he would receive notifications concerning his jurisdiction that he would look over and then discard.

Not that they were unimportant. His team would handle them.

But this case with the Aiters was very important. Not only would the outcome determine his position in the PPF, but it also concerned the well being of billions of aliens.

Race. The Pentaverse was not just a big space with lots of aliens in it. The Pentaverse was a collection of races, all of them attempting to use their intelligence to act respectfully and peaceably with one another.

Or at least that's what Officer Lliui thought it should be.

Everyday, it seemed there was a new threat to race. Beings disagreeing with other beings, alien cultures clashing against each other. A friendly gesture from one being was a disrespectful action to another. Hate.

Each species that discovered life outside of its own world united as a species, but made a new group to be racist against. Us verses them.

This epidemic, whatever it was, was another threat to race. It was fear. People were becoming afraid. And fear was just another form of hate. Especially when race was involved.

Racism. His species, the Strams, they knew of racism. Their history was plagued with it. The filthy word echoed in his mind like an itch you can't scratch.

Officer Lliui drew in a large breath through his pointed nose and held it. This case would be solved if some of these clowns would shape up. He thought.

Maybe he was racist too. Racist against stupid people.

He shook his head, clearing his mind and refocused on the mission at hand.

Something bothered him about this Aiter case. The term "Aiter epidemic" had been used so frequently that it had become mainstream. There wasn't any second thought about it. The Aiters were infected. No questions asked.

But that didn't sit well with Officer Lliui. Something about it was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

His thought process flowed like this: He had seen a lot of things in his days as a PPF agent, but nothing like this. So, because he had never seen anything like this before, that meant that the solution was most likely something that he had also never seen before.

By that logic, it was not simply an epidemic. It was something else that nobody had yet considered. What that was though, he could only imagine.

The stout Stram closed his eyes and quickly offered a prayer to the Holy Ruolten in his mind. This Pentaverse needed their help, wherever they were.

"Major!" Yelled a being as it crashed in through the tent's closed flaps.

Officer Lliui looked up at the tent entrance from his desk, startled.

It was Lieutenant Hoff. The thin Human had tripped on the plastic flaps while entering, promptly face planting onto the dirt floor.

"Ah, Lieutenant!" Exclaimed the Stram. "How did that interview go with the Pardos, hmm?" He chuckled to himself, remembering his sly evasion of the news reporters. It had been a couple hours since he had left the lieutenant behind, making him even more grateful that he had evaded the press.

"Major Lliui," stammered the Human, picking himself off the dirt floor. "I have important news! The Area Investigation Department just made a breakthrough!"

Area Investigation Department was where he had examined the strange foreign object with that annoying Gonos. The Stram's eyes grew wide in anticipation.

A moment passed with the two of them just staring at each other.

"Well, what is it man?" Officer Lliui burst out. "Don't just tell me there's news, give me the news!"

"I..." The Lieutenant looked back at him slightly confused. "...You don't want to just go hear the news from the department themselves?"

The Stram stood up from his desk. "Lieutenant! Give me the damn news!"

Lieutenant Hoff hesitated. "Alright well... they discovered where the object is from. It's from Gnumus—it's Oidian!"

Officer Lliui stared at him in confusion. "Oidian? ...The Oidians are dead!"

Lieutenant Hoff shrugged his shoulders.

Officer Lliui closed the screen he had been studying, hoped over his desk and pushed past the Human Lieutenant to the entrance of his tent.

"...I want to hear this for myself." He muttered as he rushed out. The Human Hoff cluelessly chased after him.

From Gnumus. He thought to himself. What the Ruolten...