Colony

Tina’s eyes pressed close until she saw black and found herself a girl again. Glancing back, she viewed Lude in a desperate struggle to catch up as she ran up the slope of a grassy hill, the toxic, micronium-polluted winds stinging her sensitive third eye. “You can’t catch me!” Lude was almost out of breath. “You… wait… and… see.” She watched him with amusement, knowing very well that he would never catch up. He was never the athletic type, frail and thin as the fikzar blades used to mine micronium. “What’s wrong? Your feet turned to stone?” “Shut up!” “Come on! I’ll leave yo—” The ground began to shiver, and the grass blades entered a frantic dance. Tina glanced up. In the distance, a dark, edgy metallic cloud left a turbulent trail, gargantuan and imposing. The Empire ship encompassed the fields and hills with its blanket of shadow as it hovered past, the blast of its micronium thrusters silencing all other sounds.<img src="/media/inline_insight_image/images_-_2026-09-11T083423.284.jpeg"/>Tina did not notice when Lude had caught up to her. She only felt his hand around hers as he panted. “Tina.” His voice was shaky with fear. Her fingers clung tightly to his, her heart beating violently like an excited sonium engine. Her eyes were closed as they waited, listening, awaiting their fates, the winds stirring her dirty red curls into a frenzy. The air grew gentler as the sounds of the behemoth grew fainter and fainter still, until it hovered out of earshot. Ludin’s eyes were still shut in fear, his fingers in a tight embrace with hers. “Don’t worry,” Tina spoke. “You can open your eyes now. It’s gone.” His eyelids slowly rose, revealing the beautiful golden glow of his pupils, his larger third eye still looking upwards in distrust. “You don’t have to be scared,” assured Tina. “I wasn’t scared.” Ludin was as red as a micronium crystal, freeing his hand from hers, but she held him back. “I’m serious, Lude,” she said, touching him with a serious gaze. “I’ll protect you. No one will hurt you while I’m here.” “Bu… But,” Lude stammered. “But you’re a girl. Boys are supposed to protect girls, not the other way around. So I… I’ll… I’ll protect you. Always.” Tina crossed her arms. “No! I’ll protect you. You’ve already saved me before.” “I only disabled a malfunctioning miner droid.” “And because of that, I wasn’t hacked to death with a fikzar.” “Yeah, well… well…” “Lude,” Tina cut him off, her eyes sparkling like icy blue crystals. “I love you.” Ludin’s eyes were facing three different directions. “I… I love you too.” They fell into each other’s arms, and their lips were about to make contact when she heard a call. “Captain… Captain!” Tina opened her eyes, and she was a woman again. Her eyes needed a moment to clear up and return completely from slumber’s clutches. Once her vision was lens-clear, her two smaller eyes widened as she viewed the figure looming over her. “You’re up. Finally.” The woman’s voice was tinged ever so slightly with frustration. “Oh, Ezna, it’s you.” Tina rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Her third eye was awake, and with it, she took a peek into Ezna’s soul, revealing a hint of annoyance. “I had a really good dream, Ezna.” “Oh really? Is that perhaps why you were resisting my efforts to wake you?” “Perhaps it is,” Tina replied, nostalgia pulling her lips into a smile. Ezna paused for a moment, concentrating her gaze on Tina with her large third eye, which was a luminous green. “My eye tells me you’re very happy, Captain. Must have been quite the dream. What was it about, if you don’t mind me asking?” Tina looked up at her, wordless, her face brightened by a deeply personal smile that infected Ezna, whose lips curved upwards without her noticing. “Anyways,” Ezna spoke. “The commander summons you.” Tina’s eyes flashed. “They’re back?” “You were asleep last night when they returned.” Tina was quickly on her feet. “I’ll see him then.” With her message delivered, Ezna departed with a bow and the whistling of her skirt. The bathroom door opened with a pneumatic hiss as Tina walked over the light-streaked tiles that came alive with luminosity wherever she stepped. She reached for the sink tap and splashed her face with water. She observed her face in the mist-clad mirror. Her two smaller eyes were blue as an icy moon, while her third eye, nearly twice as large, was a deep red and stinging. Once, it had been as blue as the others, but it had been stained a blood red from contact with micronium-polluted air—a gift from her days of labour in one of the Empire’s many micronium mines that littered her colonized planet. It may have lost its birth colour and dwindled in sensitivity, but she at least still had her all-seeing eye… Unlike him. She welcomed another splash of water, then reached for a towel from a hanger that levitated via magnetic pins, which she used to pat her face dry. A severe itch befell her red eye, causing her to quickly reach for her medication, leaving the tap running. She held the eye-drop container up, her large red, tomato-like eye watching, waiting for sweet relief to come forth in generous drops. But there was nothing. “Fuck!” Tina spat. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” She tossed away the empty container, which bounced off the silver-coloured walls. Pinpin’s sensors were triggered, and it undocked from its charging station, quickly springing into action. It wheeled its way towards the container, grabbed it with its robotic pincers, devoured it, and wheeled away to dispose of it. “Viska,” Tina called. A pale blue streak of light traced the perimeter of the bathroom. “How may I help you, Captain?” a robotic voice replied. “Let Qindak know I’m out of eye drops.” “As you wish, Captain.” The voice retreated, and the lights faded out. Tina stood face down over the sink, her hands over the smooth curvature of the wet basin. “Well, I guess I’ll have to see him with this itch. I’ll definitely be scratching my eyes out.” “Viska, turn on the shower.”

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