Life always finds a way, and on the trash planet constantly assaulted by fleets of dumpers dumping trash onto its surface, the planet's flora and fauna had been forced evolved to survive in the harsh conditions.
In the Flora's case, the vast majority of plants tended towards carnivorous diets to keep themselves sated.
And because most if not all species of carnivorous plant had evolved to deal with poor conditions, it was easy enough to transplant one of the many carnivorous plants into a pot welded to the wall directly underneath a leaky pipe.
If it works, it works.
Hands carefully pruning the Judgement Bellflower with a knife, he deadheaded most of the spent blossoms, keeping the flower bulbs in a separate bag which he would later grind into a dust.
Multiple times as he was deadheading the spent blossoms Ester had to shake off the slowly encroaching roots before they could harm themselves on the knife.
'Calm down you greedy little thing.'
But as someone who had been doing the same thing for three years now, he was able to finish dead heading the Judgement Bellflower before finally allowing the roots to wrap around his finger.
'Now then little Judge, what do you want?'
Feeling something strain against his mind as he channeled his thoughts to the carnivorous plant, it sent him a jumbled series of thoughts and desires that clumsily barged into his mind.
It was headache inducing.
Feeling his right hand twitch, Ester gently shook off the plant clinging to his left hand, picking up a can plastered with the faded out image of a 2D woman with a very large chest.
Opening up its top, he briefly glanced at its insides before dumping all of its contents onto the pot.
Letting out soft slapping noises as the three chunks of meat collided against each other, the leaves of the Judgement Bell flower waved in happiness as it wrapped it's prehensile roots around the preservative infused cubes of meat.
'It's cute in a weird way.'
Resting his elbow on the desk and his head on the palm of his hand, Ester watched with interested eyes as the roots dug into the meat, melting the flesh from the inside out.
But just because he was interested in the feeding cycle of the Bellflower didn't mean that the world would stop moving just for him.
[Ester!]
Hearing Eva's muffled voice echo from the front of the Driller, Ester gave one last look at the Bellflower before pushing off of the desk, opening the door that separated the Greenhouse, kitchen and engine area from the drivers seat, air lock and work station area.
Glancing back one last time, he could've sworn that the Bellflower was waving him goodbye.
But before he could check to see if his eyes were working properly, Eva's voice came again, ringing less muffled in his ears.
[Ester!]
Glancing back at the bellflower that was still feasting on the three cubes of meat, Ester cracked his stiff neck as he closed the door behind him.
"What's up?" He said while locking eyes with the woman currently wearing nothing more than an oversized shirt that hung loosely from her shoulders.
But as if the matter of her clothing nearly failing to cover her modesty wasn't a problem in the slightest, Eva pointed at a side screen as if it would explain everything.
In hindsight it did explain everything, but Ester was currently to lazy to think of why there was a map on the screen.
Eva let out an amused hiss of air escape her throat as she stared at his face which said it all. [Sometimes you are the smartest guy I know-]
"And the only handsome one." Ester muttered underneath his breath.
[-But other times you can become the stupidest guy in the room.] Eva finished, her grey gaze looking into his own eyes.
[So let me spell it out for you in words that the big baby can understand.] Eva comfortably settled into her chair cushioned by several bundles of clothing folded in such a way that they were able to form pillows.
[I found out where the old man left the space flight key.]
"..." Ester blinked in confusion before putting on the saddest face he could muster. "It's a pity that dementia can strike from such a young age."
Eva's eye twitched as she slapped at his arm. [I don't have dementia you idiot.]
"Then are you sick?" Ester placed a hand on her forehead before belatedly switching his hands around when he realized he couldn't exactly feel her temperature through metal.
Well technically he could, but by then she would be dead.
She slapped his hand away. [W-what I was meaning to explain to you is that when the old man gave me the loca-location of the Space Flight key, he failed to mention what was located around this loca-location.]
Ester's teasing smile stiffened and fell, a twitch in his eye replacing the smile. "...That seems annoyingly on brand, so what's around the space flight key?"
Eva let out a crackled hiss as she tapped at the side of the computer screen, the map flashing back to the large number of folders once again.
But instead of the large number of corrupted files appearing like it had last time, Ester raised an eyebrow at the sight of the perfectly intact folders that numbered less than they had before when they had just accessed the data chip stolen right from the jaws of a Corrupted.
"Well that's new."
[Wait until you see what I found.]
Having at some point donned the interface again, her fingers twitched constantly as the storm cloud with a happy expression briefly swiftly sunk into one of the many folders.
Opening it up, a Three dimensional model of some sort of building unfolded before him.
Leaning his weight against the chair, he nodded his head. "So what am I looking at?"
[A Ground to Space Array.]
"An Architect damned what?"
[You heard me the first time.]
Ester felt his lips twitch as he poked at her cheek. "Are you sure you aren't pulling my leg?"
[Do you have legs?]
"Well I guess that answers that question." Ester stared at the Three Dimensional model in a new light.
[For all the old man's paranoia, he is annoyingly good at preparing for things.]
"I do have a few worries though."
[Which are?]
"How are we going to get in with just a model of the place? And is that model even accurate anymore?"
[To answer your second question, you should know as well as I do that the Star Nobles could give less of a damn about funding new facilities here on the trash planet.-]
"Fair"
[-And to answer your first question, somehow the old man has passkeys that allow us to bypass all of the automatic turrets in place, the only thing we have to deal with are a bunch of poor sods sent here to guard the Array.]
The storm cloud was suddenly joined by a second storm cloud with a cold expression appearing from the side of the screen, joining together as Eva shivered in her seat.
[By the way, we're at the Array.]
"Are we now?"
[Yep]
Feeling the driller slow to a halt, the storm cloud leapt from the 3D model folder to a different one bearing some lines and a bunch of codes.
A voice echoed from outside as Eva turned on the microphone.
[This is Array designation 39102, identify yourselves or we will fire.]
[This is...] Eva paused as she read the lines of runes in front of her [-supply unit dash TX47910, requesting entry.]
[Supply unit TX47910... s-s-supply confirmed] The voice suddenly began to stutter, its mechanical and monotone voice glitching out somewhat. [P-p-pleeease send i-i-i-identifyiiiiiiiiing code]
Eva glanced at Ester before the storm cloud consumed the large bundle of blocks. [Sent]
And as if the previous glitches were nothing more than a dream, the voice returned back to normal.
[Id code confirmed, welcome supply unit TX47910.]
Glancing at each other and wondering how in the void did the old man hack into the array, the Driller nevertheless bumbled inwards.
---
Standing up and cracking his neck as Eva parked the driller into the supply room, Ester glanced at Eva as he made his way to the Fridge magnet set up.
"Anything I need to know before I go off apprehending any of the poor buggers with less than lethal force?"
[I'm coming with you this time]
"...Why?" Ester asked with a raised eyebrow, his hands adjusting the Respirator pack at his waist, instinctively performing all the checks needed to keep him breathing that pure and stale air. "Actually, let me rephrase that. How?"
Gesturing at Eva's distinct lack of legs, somehow, she let out a warbling sigh from her mechanical lips.
[Idiot.]
"...What the void did I do this time?"
[Come here for a second.]
Gesturing for Ester to near, once he did, the only thing he received for his efforts was a pair of fingers penetrating the long sleeved defenses on his arm to pinch the pale flesh underneath.
"...Ow?" Rubbing his shoulder and feeling the hard touch of metal over the fabric where the small wound appeared, Eva pointed upwards at the vents.
[I want my present now.]
Tilting his head in confusion, Ester's eyes widened as he instinctively began to lie.
"What's up in the vents?"
[You know you have a bad habit of rubbing the back of your neck when you lie?]
Pausing mid rubbing the back of his neck while lying, Eva let out a long mechanical hiss.
[Also, did you really think you could hide something from me for three years?]
"..." Ester pursed his lips before retorting. "I at least kept it from you for two years before you found out about my- your legs."
[Shut up and just give them to me]
---
"This is weirdly disappointing."
Speaking into the radio in his arm, a feminine voice rang out from besides him.
[You know I'm right besides you right?]
Ester laughed sheepishly as he eyed Eva's legs worriedly. "Sorry, it's a force of habit."
[It's okay.] Eva spun around on the tips of her toes with visible joy. [I'm just glad that you even gave me a chance to break that habit.]
Ester glanced at his sister in everything but blood. "...Are we doing this again?"
[What, this? Of course we are!] Eva leapt and stumbled forwards as Ester hurriedly caught her.
"...I'm not going to stop you, but you should probably get used to having legs again."
[And then I can go outside and walk on my own two feet?]
"And then you can do whatever the fuck you want."
[Yay!]
Letting out a hiss of success, Ester rolled his eyes at the troubles which were to come as Eva hopped and skipped her way ahead.
This place was... uncared for if put positively, abandoned if put negatively.
With a thick layer of dust coating even the fake plastic plants breaking up the monotony of the halls, there were no signs anywhere that pointed to this place being used in recent years.
Touching the steel grey walls with her bare hands, Eva let out a hiss of surprise
[Oh. Oh wow. I just found out why the old man hacked the systems to let us do whatever we want.]
"And pray tell why is that?" Ester asked while peeking into what looked like sleeping quarters furnished only with row upon rows of empty bunk tubes.
[Because of this.]
*Ker-Chunk
"VOID ALMIGHTY!"
Jumping up in surprise as the wall beside him opened up to reveal a set of barrels staring down at his face, Eva's cackling laughter echoed throughout the base as he lay on the ground trying to recover from the shock.
"Not. Funny." He growled.
[HAHAHAAH! You should've seen the look on your face! Priceless!]
Still laughing by the time that Ester got up from the ground and dusted himself off with a flushed face, underneath the cackles of her thoughts, she eventually led them past the admittedly threatening defense systems that showed no signs of wear despite obvious neglect.
Stopping in front of a big ass door that needed some encouragement to open when the gears groaned with need for grease, Ester couldn't help but let out a sigh of awe.
Blinking in surprise at the sight of a wall sized screen taking up his vision as several sets of computer desks with abandoned swivel seats reflected his surprised face hidden underneath the Respirator.
With crystal clear black screens, the clean steel frames looked as polished as the day that they were made.
It was as if this place was factory new.
It was beautiful.
"And that mean it'll all sell well on the market."
Already imagining the amount of Stallis units they would get from selling all of these computers, Eva poked him in the waist.
[You know-w we came here for the Space flight key r-right?]
"!" Standing up as if shocked by a taser, Eva let a hiss of air escape her throat.
[You forgot. Didn't you?]
Tactfully avoiding her judgmental gaze, Eva slapped him on the shoulder before accessing one of the many computers.
[At least help search for the key if you aren't going to answer- Error-]
"Eva?"
Tilting his head in confusion as his gaze turned to look at the computer screen Eva was using, he froze in shock.
Exile List: Criminals: Latest Time Stamp {50 Years 053 Days 7 Hours 56 minutes 31 seconds}
"What the..." Blinking at the absurd timestamp, the Exile List shifted from the criminals list to the Citizens subsection
Exile List: Civilians: Latest Time Stamp {7 Hours 56 minutes 35 seconds}
"For fifty years... No criminals have been sent to this planet?"
Letting out a sound of disbelief at the absurdity of the fact that zero criminals had been exiled to the trash planet for FIFTY ARCHITECT DAMNED YEARS Eva whispered through the her speakers.
[I'm bringing it up to the big screen.]
Rapidly typing away at the keyboard while clicking with the conjugate mouse, the big screen lit up with mechanical life, coldly bringing up record logs from long ago.
50:000:07:58:37 Ago. Reason for Criminal absence from Exile list: Sent to combat the Void on the Border of the Maginum Kingdom
49:364:22:58:39 Ago. Permission to continue to exile civilians who offended Star nobles here? {APPROVED}
33:192:12:39:48 Ago. Project Void buffer approved {DATA CLASSIFIED}
13:043:01:59:12 Ago. Order to evacuate all essential personnel and purge data banks before Project Void Buffer is executed.
13:042:23:59:12 Ago. Permission to ask reason for evacuation? {REJECTED} {HIGHER STATUS ACKNOWLEDGED} {APPROVED}
Project Void Buffer: Dr.[][][] stated that the usage of planets full of life would stall the Void front long enough for the Maginum Kingdom to test brand new superweapons.
Plan was overseen by Elder's council, Project voted in favor and approved.
To maintain conditions of life, civilians shall continue to be sent to Trash Planet E2073
Request to keep all civilians away from northern hemisphere.
Ester and Eva stared at the big screen with chaotic thoughts bouncing in their heads.
Eventually, they settled on one concrete thought.
'What the fuck.'
For fifty years no Criminals had been sent to what Ester now knew as trash planet E2073 because of some sort of war with the Void that the Maginum Kingdom was fighting.
He could understand that.
The fact that the entire planet was designated to be destroyed...
Ester could gaslight himself into understanding that due to the fact this place should've been a hub of criminal activity if not for the fact that there were no criminals in the slightest.
In addition, the fact that the planet was sacrificed to test out some fancy new weapons instead of some sort of tactical advantage or a way to buy time for evacuations?
Ester couldn't understand that.
Ripping the planet from its orbit around the Host star just to Buffer the Void invasion for a few days?
Ester could understand it.
Evacuating all of their essential personnel and leaving behind some of the non essential personnel which were probably not liked by their upper brass?
Ester could understand it.
And because he could and couldn't understand all of this, Ester was pissed the fuck off.
Esters eye twitched
'Now I know what that dream is talking about when the Stars blink.'
With the common knowledge that the void devoured even celestial pressures, it seemed feasible that the much weaker starlight would be absorbed.
'I also now know what I want to do when I escape this Architect- No. Noble Forsaken rock' Ester corrected himself with a blaze in his ashen eyes.
'I want to kill all the Elders in that council that supported this fucking plan.'
Ester's hands crunched the desk in front of him.
But to do that, Ester would need to get off planet first.
And despite what it seemed like, outside of a modded gravitator and a space flight key they still hadn't found, Ester was still far from his dream of getting off planet.
Ester's eyes turned towards to a portion of the screens detailing the location of the Super rockets meant to careen E2073 off its orbit.
"The Maginum Kingdom huh? If you think innocents sent to this place are equal to the criminals sent here 50 years ago, I think I'll take you up on your offer and become a Criminal."
A flash of blue sparked in his eyes as he glared at the numerous screens.
"I'll be the Architect of your doom."
+++
I felt inspired Tree
[Rewrite]