Khas-khem, 19, location unknown. (A LANCER story.)

Light.

That is the first thing Khas-khem realized was absent. She opened her eyes. Dark. Silent. She closed her eyes again. Listen.

Her body's own sounds where there. Heartbeat, pulse, breathing, the soft touch of linen underneath her fingers. Was she naked? No. That was strange. Dead? No, her body seemed to be working. She made fists of her fingers and curled her toes, releasing short and staccato exhales. She had control. She was in control. Good.

Relaxing into the linen, she began the warrior mantra. She was Khas-khem of the Yellow Sands clan, swimmer of the Red River, born and breed to be a protector of the land. Was this her trial? Had she been taken to the Fortress of Fire already? Was that not too soon?

Slow breathing in and out. Stretch out her limbs, uncurl her fingers and spread them out. The absence of light was annoying. Listen. No sounds but those she made herself.

A voice spoke.

"Sun Stealer."

Not too dark or high pitched, but a man for certain. Neither old nor young. Definitely not a warrior. A priest?

The voice continued.

"You have been chosen. I will guide you. I know you have questions, but listen, and do not interrupt."

The man paused, waiting for her reaction. Khas-khem kept silent, trying to determine where the voice was coming from. 

"I am not of your clan. I am not a warrior, nor a priest. I am what remains of Musim, long departed from this world."

Musim? Lancer pilot, legend, the reason the Southlings had not marched against Bakbak am Komf in anger. Everybody knew his tale. Was this a hologram?

"As you by now probably have guessed, I am a machine copy. I was made before my namesake did battle for the lordlings in the South. I am an echo of what was before, and I will guide you if you accept the burden of walking my path."

Khas-khem became very still. Lancer pilot. Only the very best of the best were selected, and the competition was fierce. But sending a warrior, gene-altered and structure-tailored... could they afford to sacrifice one of the Sans-sens-silt? So few had made it past the second organ implementation in her batch.

"Sun Stealer. I address you as a pilot. If you accept to this role, your life will be forever changed. You may never return to Bakbak am Komf and your clan. Your name will be forgotten, deedless. You will forever walk alone outside the embrace of the holy four. The Grateful Hate will chase your steps, the Drowning Despair will reach for you, the Forgotten Silence shun your shade, and the Consumer will try to claim your karta. It is a lonely life, full of peril and danger. You will struggle and fail, or rise to eclipse the Warm of Wrath herself. Do you accept this life?"

Khas-khem considered this. Leaving the others behind when there were so few of them left... Musin had not told her she could speak. In the dark she made the hand signal for "halt". The voice spoke again.

"Do you have questions? If so, you may speak them."

"What will happen to my blood-bonded?" Her voice sounded throaty and coarse in her ears, nothing like the melodious tone of Musim.

"They will continue on without you, as if you had died."

"Will there be a ceremony?"

"No. You will leave without warning. The customary answer will be given."

'Sailing the river of stars', Khas-khem thought. A sharp pain went through her heart.

"Why 'Sun Stealer'?"

"After the fall of the biological Musim, the Southlings gave him a title. Furious, his followers threatened to rebel and depart. The Southlings conceded and allowed the people the right to name their own. However, as Musin was dead, no title could be bestowed upon him. Whenever we send a potential pilot South to the lordlings for training, we equip them with a title, as to never let this happen again."

Khas-khem understood instantly. Titles were for the living, to offer one to the dead was to gain the attention of the dead, distracting them from the afterlife. She never expected she would have one herself.

"I accept."

Light. Blinding, all surrounding. Cold. There was no warmth in the light.

"Then welcome, Sun Stealer, to your new life. Your training begins immediately."