Several officers had already crowded the hallway outside of the elevator on deck C-32. Captain Dobbs had arrived before Red and directed everyone to calmly move down the hallway. Above the entrance to a family's private quarters, a red light flashed on and off. Captain Dobbs pointed it out.

Red took point. "Cover the door and don't let anyone out. Bind Opoz, if you can. If she gets away again, there's no telling how many more might die."

The door opened and Red entered the quarters. In the moment that the door stood ajar, Captain Dobbs took in the horrors of the room. Red heard him remark as the door closed, "Holy shit. Everyone ready your weapons!"

Blood splattered the walls. Red tried not to discern whether there were guts as well. Two children had been brutally murdered. Their mother as well. Crouched in the kitchen, shaking like a scared puppy, was the father. His eyes were bright green orbs. He clung to a dagger made of broken glass, causing his hands to bleed.

"Found you," Red announced, pointing their spear at the man.

"You'd endanger this poor man's life? Hasn't he been through enough?"

"He understood what he signed up for," Red responded.

"Actually, he didn't sign up for this. He's part of a Jhikae Order outreach program. That's why his family is here."

"So, why did you target him, then?"

"He called to me. He was frustrated. He wanted lockdown to end and his family to be set free. I told him that all he had to do was play a game. Naturally, he didn't understand who I was until it was too late. Anyway, I won."

"You're a fucking monster!" Red inched closer, spear pointed directly at the man's heart.

"You made me this way, Red. If you had just let me have my fun, I could have moved on by now. But then you killed my sister. I hated that bitch, but you still had to make it personal."

"You gods, you think you're so much better than mortals but you still get caught up in the same bullshit we do. You're not any different than us. Look at this place! You've committed one of the most human acts imaginable!"

"I suppose you're right. Maybe you've rubbed off on me. It's something about this world that makes you do this... I understand it now. It really is hell, here. I can't believe you put up with it, let alone that you want to be here."

"There are nice things," Red corrected Opoz.

"Like love? You really think Carlyle loves you?"

Red pushed their emotional response down into the depths of their stomach. "It doesn't matter if she does, you still need to die."

Opoz sighed. "I suppose we should just get it over with then, huh?"

Opoz lifted the glass dagger and pressed it against the man's throat. By the time Red had moved to stop her, his throat had been slit and blood poured out of the wound. The color in his eyes faded and he gained a peaceful expression.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. "Where'd you go, Opoz? I know you haven't left yet!"

Absolute silence responded.

The blood suddenly stank. Red did their best to hold off their disgust. Their training had never involved real viscera, and they had never been this close to it, let alone in this quantity before. They couldn't hold it in anymore. Red ran to the toilet and got the sickness out.

They almost expected Opoz to console them while they bent over the toilet, but she didn't appear. The bathroom was the only area that hadn't been soiled by death, so Red decided to wait in there. They sat down on the toilet, spear pointed at the doorway.

"I'll be here as long as I have to, so either you kill me now or you watch me starve to death."

Opoz appeared in the doorway, rolling her eyes. "Don't be stupid. I know how much food is left on the ship. I'm ready to sit here for a couple weeks if I have to."

"But can you evade me for that long? Certainly there aren't that many places for you to hide, I know the captain has locked down this room by now."

She pursed her lips. "You're right. I've really backed myself into a corner this time. But, I have a question for you, do you have the guts to get out of this one alive? Because I do."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's in my name, it's a part of me. It's my place in the universe to have the pluck to survive, to go down fighting. So, my question to you, Wanderer Red, is this: do you have the guts?"

Red simply stared at her. Without warning, Red lunged from their sitting position onto their feet and thrust their spear at Opoz. The tip made contact.

Suddenly Red was enveloped in the pitch black of the mindscape. They immediately sat cross-legged and steeled their heart and mind against all stimuli. "You're out of practice, Opoz. What happened to the casino of your soul?" Red asked.

"I did some renovating. I thought the endless black void looked better. Don't you agree?" Opoz wore an evening gown covered in emeralds and other jewels.

"You really have terrible taste. It's no wonder you ended up god of a podunk nowhere mining town in the colonial rim."

"It wasn't that bad. After all, you found love there! Give it some credit. You know, when you think about it, I'm single-handedly responsible for your relationship. You should give me some credit here, Red."

"You wish. I did that myself."

"That's what you think, but I planted the seed as soon as your eyes met, as soon as your heart fluttered and her hand brushed against yours. It was all me, Red, the whole time. Now, what do you say when someone does something nice for you?"

"Fuck off!" Red's spear appeared in their hand and they hopped to their feet.

"Oooh, that touched a nerve, huh, Red? Worried I'm right? What if Carlyle doesn't actually love you?"

Red thrust the spear forward, hitting nothing but air.

"C'mon Red, you can do better than that."

Red felt Opoz's hand on their shoulder. They spun around and hit Opoz's side with the shaft of their spear. Opoz got the wind knocked out of her, doubling over and breathing heavily. "Damn it! Material bodies are more trouble than they're worth!"

Red took a step back and thrust again. Opoz screamed in pain. Green gold poured out of the hole in her stomach. She held her hands against the wound and sealed it.

"DREN TUU SILCAE, OPOZ!"

Red was ejected from the mindscape. Without hesitation, they repeated the incantation and thrust forward again, pushing through the skin of Opoz's stomach and piercing all the way through her body. Green gold flowed from the wound, causing Red to slip and fall.

Opoz's body slowly faded, leaving nothing but the liquid behind. Red sat down in the puddle and waited to ensure that she was dead.

Two hours later, Captain Dobbs banged on the door. "Red, you finished in there?"

Red stood, careful not to slip. They hoped that the liquid wasn't toxic. "Yeah. I'm fine. She's dead. It's disgusting in here, please let me out."

The door opened. Captain Dobbs stood with his arms crossed behind his back. "Good work, Red. We can finally go home. I'll bring a team to clean this up."

"There's green gold all over the floor, too. If you can harvest it properly, you can donate it to the Order. Or use it for repairs, I suppose."

Red returned to their room. They took a long shower and sat down in bed, leaning against the wall. They looked at their qComm, wondering whether or not they should message Carlyle. Remembering the last time they chose not to say anything, they picked up the device and typed out a message.

JUST THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW... OPOZ = DEAD
WE'RE FREE

Red waited an hour for a response, but one didn't come. They were worried. What if something happened? What if Opoz had installed some kind of dead-man's-switch in Carlyle's head, killing her instantly if Opoz ever died.

They had never heard of that happening before, but if they could imagine it, it was possible. Red tried to get their mind off of their anxiety with some trashy entertainment, but they couldn't stop looking at their qComm to check for messages.

They fell asleep on accident. In their nightmare, a massive space tornado swallowed up the ship and they were torn into a billion pieces. For some reason, they could feel each piece as it was ripped off of their body.

Red was sweating when they woke up. Their qComm dinged with a single message.

CONGRATS! NOW WE CAN FINALLY MOVE ON
YOU'RE SO AMAZING <3

Red took a deep breath. Everything was fine.

The Furious Monkey was checked from top to bottom before being allowed to dock back at Silkway's space station. The dead had been given proper space burials, and Captain Dobbs made plans to visit their families personally. Red was on the first available shuttle to meet with Master Gris and conclude the contract.

Still timid from their battle, Red jumped at the sudden opening of the door to Master Gris' office. Her assistant bowed and invited them inside.

"Red, congratulations on your success. Captain Dobbs has instructed me to provide you with whatever honors I can. He says that without you, the entire crew of the Furious Monkey would have been murdered by the god," Master Gris said after Red sat down.

"Thank you, Master."

"He also informed me that you actually killed two gods, and they were sisters? Can you please explain the situation a bit better."

"A lack of intelligence led me to mistake Opoz's identity for her sister instead. It wasn't until we had summoned the sister-god that we had discovered our mistake, and by then it was too late to do anything about it. We were acting out of self-defense at that point."

"A dangerous error. I'm glad that you managed to handle it, though. In the future, it is imperative that you do not make that mistake again. I don't have to tell you that you put the entire crew of that ship at risk. That is not an asset we can lose at a time like this."

"I understand, Master."

"Now, what would you say was the domain of the two gods that you killed?" Master Gris asked.

"Luck and Pluck. Or, uh, chance, but one had more to do with numerical chance, or statistics, while the other had more to do with having the heart or courage required to take risks and succeed."

"Do you foresee either of these to be a problem in the future? Did you experience any after-effects in those domains?"

Red shrugged. "Not that I know of."

"Okay, well it's very important that you notify us immediately if you do. A cursed wanderer could bring down our entire organization on accident."

"Yes, Master. Is that all?"

"No, there's one more thing. I'm sure by now you feel you've earned yourself a vacation, but I'm afraid another matter requires our attention."

"What's the situation?" Red asked.

"It appears that two factions of the galactic core are gearing up for war. Specifically, the Acrux Empire has begun moving into Merchant's Guild territory. While we are not peacekeepers, there is a chance that this explodes into a galaxy-wide conflict. After all, humans and Acrux have a long history of not getting along. The borders that were drawn at the end of the last war were meant to stay in place. As such, we must reinforce our outposts in the galactic center if we don't wish to be quickly out-numbered. We haven't seen war in almost one-hundred years, but the council of elders can tell something is on the horizon," Master Gris explained, lowering her voice as if others might hear.

"What does this mean for me?"

"You will be dispatched to the temple at Sagittarius A* for now. The Furious Monkey will take you there. I have a feeling that they will be needed on the front in the coming months. The Acrux are known for their battle magic, and they have long been under the watchful eye of the Jhikae Order. Despite our current truce, without eyes of our own on the battlefield, we may not be able to act until it's too late."

"I agree completely, Master. When do I leave?"

"As soon as the Furious Monkey is cleared for departure."

END OF ARC 1