Meric was an extremely lonely man. After both his parents and his sister died in an automobile accident, Meric moved to a new city in a new state. He hoped that he could forget about the tragedy and move on with his life. However, he could never get out of the deep depression he fell into. Each day, the pain was there as strong as yesterday. Meric didn't know his extended family. He didn't have any friends, or a girlfriend. Meric had nobody. Every day he would go to work, come home, get drunk, fall asleep, wake up and do it all over again. One day he just decided to do it. He decided to kill himself. Death seemed a whole lot nicer than Meric's living hell.

That night after work, Meric walked to a very beautiful bridge that stood high over the magnificant river that ran through the city. Meric often stood on the bridge when he was feeling exceptionally dark. He would look down at the river and imagine his body falling into it. He would imagine himself plunging into the water and being consumed by it. Tonight, Meric would finally know what it actually feels like to fall into the river. Standing up on the railing, Meric's mind focused on his family.

"Here I come, Mom," Meric said calmly. "Here I come, Dad. Here I come, Sis. I don't need to miss you anymore."

Meric didn't say good-bye to the world before he fell. He hated the world. He said, "Good riddance." Then he let go. It was the most unsettling and exciting feeling as Meric fell thru the air toward the river. It was the first time in a couple years that he felt invigorated. His excitement was mixed with fear, anticipation, and wonder.

As Meric got closer to the water, he noticed a very large, vague shape under the water. In the split second that he saw the shape he thought, 'I didn't know that there was a sunken boat in this river.' Then Meric noticed that the shape was getting closer to the surface. It was rising!

Meric thought, 'I guess I'll get crushed to death instead of drowned.' His arms reflexively crossed in front of his face to protect his head.

The 'sunken boat' peaked out of the water just before Meric slammed into it. The surface that peaked was a flat, pentagonal, metallic surface. Meric's body ran into the surface at a fantastic speed, but his body wasn't dashed to pieces. The metallic surface was soft! The strange metallic surface absorbed the impact of Meric's body, sending shockwaves out thru the water.

Meric got up on his hands and knees, astounded. What had he run into? It was a shiney metallic substance but it was soft, and it wasn't even wet from the water. It was completely dry!

The 'sunken boat', or whatever it was, continued to rise out of the river with Meric on top of it. As Meric looked around in wonder, the 'sunken boat' suddenly vanished! Meric panicked, but he didn't fall. He still felt the surface underneath him, but it was invisible! He looked down, and it looked like he was levitating above the river!

Suddenly, a square panel opened up in seemingly empty space near Meric. He could see inside the 'sunken boat,' but he couldn't see much. Suddenly, a woman's head came up out of the open panel. Meric was startled to see the woman. She was beautiful, with soft and wavy hair. She looked like an actress in a classic black-and-white film, and she even seemed to have a soft glow around her.

"Come in, will you?" the woman said. Her voice even sounded like the soundtrack of a classic film!

'That's it,' Meric thought. 'I'm either dreaming, or I've gone completely crazy!'

The classic woman stuck her arms out of the square panel, hoisting herself up on her elbows and reaching out for Meric.

"Come in, will you?" the woman repeated as she reached out her arms.

Meric didn't know what to do, so he crawled toward the woman. She helped him into the square panel, and he fell headfirst into the 'sunken boat.'


Chapter One

"Welcome to our fair ship," the woman said as she helped Meric up off the floor.

"Our?" Meric said as he looked around the small room. It looked like a miniature living room, with two big comfy chairs, an end table with a lamp on it and two white mugs, and a television. Meric looked at the television -- it was playing a classic black-and-white film.

"I love this movie!" the woman said.

Meric looked at her and at the movie, realizing that she looked and sounded exactly like the woman on the movie. Meric was troubled.

"I'm so sorry!" the woman said, sticking her hand out for Meric to shake. "Where are my manners? My name is Hyphlo! What is your name?"

"Meric," Meric said, reaching out his hand to shake Hyphlo's hand. Hyphlo grabbed Meric's hand tightly and shook it violently. Meric was scared.

"Please, sit!" Hyphlo said as she walked over to one of the chairs.

As Meric walked over to the other chair, he had a better look at Hyphlo in the lamp light. He noticed that Hyphlo was actually black and white. Her skin and clothes didn't have any color. The rest of the room was colored, except for the classic film on the television and Hyphlo.

"Have some coffee!" Hyphlo said, taking one of the white mugs and handing it to Meric.

Meric took the mug, wondering whether or not he should drink it. Hyphlo took the other mug and took a sip from it.

"Mmmm!" Hyphlo said with a smile. "I love the taste of coffee!"

Meric decided that he had nothing to lose, and he couldn't turn down the black-and-white woman's courtesy, so he took a sip of his coffee. It was completely cold. Meric tried to hide his cringe, and forced out a fake, "Mmmm!"

Hyphlo nodded her head and took another sip. Meric forced down more of the cold coffee as he sat in the weirdest situation he'd ever experienced. Hyphlo didn't say anymore until both of their cups of coffee were gone. Meric resorted to chugging down the cold coffee.

"You don't like to sip?" Hyphlo said, confused. "I love sipping coffee!"

"Me too," Meric said. "But I loved the taste so much that I just wanted to drink it all up!"

Hyphlo laughed. She had a queer sort of laugh which sounded very forced.

"So Meric," Hyphlo said. "How was your day?"

Meric was very off-set by the question, but he decided to answer it honestly. "Very bad."

"Very bad?" Hyphlo echoed, her face becoming distressed. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Meric said. "It was just a normal day."

"Then why was it very bad?" Hyphlo asked.

"I've actually been quite depressed for the last two years," Meric said frankly. "I've been this way ever since my parents and my sister died."

"Your family died?" Hyphlo asked. "Don't you have any other family?"

"No," Meric replied.

"Don't you have any friends?" Hyphlo asked.

"None," Meric replied.

"You don't have anybody?" Hyphlo asked.

"Nobody," Meric replied.

The distressed look on Hyphlo's face turned into a broad grin. Meric was confused.

"That's perfect!" Hyphlo exclaimed. "I want you to meet my crewmates! You can probably come with us!"

"Us?" Meric said. "Who are your crewmates?"

"Verres and Tika!" Hyphlo said. "Except, I have to warn you. They aren't as beautiful as I am. Their appearance might be unsettling to you."

"What?" Meric said. "What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing is wrong with them," Hyphlo said. "They are just ... different. They look perfectly fine to others of their species, but to you they might look very weird!"

"Wait," Meric said. "Is this a space ship? Are you an alien?"

"Yes!" Hyphlo said. "You're pretty smart for a B-class species!"

"That makes sense," Meric said, looking at the television. "You're a shape shifter, right?"

"Yes!" Hyphlo said. "I'm impressed!"

"Wow," Meric said. "A space ship, huh? I'd like to see the rest of it. I suppose you decorated this room to be comfortable for me? You know, so that I don't freak out."

"You're a smart one!" Hyphlo said. "Before we meet the others, let me explain why we're here and what we're doing. I am Hyphlo the Tactful. My crewmates are Verres the Impatient and Tika the Enigmatic. This is our fair ship, the Pentacle. We call it that because it has five sides. Actually, Tika named it that because she created it. We are interplanetary Rogues. We are not affiliated with any system or organization. We do as we please, without answering to anyone."

"So, why did you save me?" Meric asked.

"Save you?" Hyphlo replied. "I don't understand."

"I was trying to kill myself," Meric said. "Why did you save me?"

"Oh," Hyphlo said. "I thought you were going for a swim!"

"So, why me?" Meric insisted.

"I'm not sure myself," Hyphlo said. "It was Tika's decision. She makes all the decisions on this ship. I asked her, but she didn't tell me why. She never tells me anything."

Meric was speechless.

"Well, why don't we meet the others?" Hyphlo said, standing up.

Meric stood up and followed Hyphlo over to a door. Hyphlo pulled on the knob and opened the door, allowing Meric to pass thru. Beyond the door was a large room. Meric looked around in amazement. The styling of the interior was very soft and metallic. It was a beautiful, shiney ship. There were many strange devices, colorful panels, and glowing holograms.

"Verres!" Hyphlo called.

Meric's attention was called to a humanoid creature sitting in a swivelling metallic chair in the center of the room. The creature, Verres, seemed to be playing some sort of holographic videogame. As the chair swivelled around, Verres held onto a set of controls that controlled a huge holographic gun, shooting down holographic fighter ships.

"Verres!" Hyphlo called, louder this time.

Verres stopped the game and turned to look at Hyphlo, shouting something in its alien language. Meric didn't understand what Verres said, but it sounded very mean.

Hyphlo said something in Verres's language, pointing to Meric. Verres got out of the chair and walked toward Meric, eyeing him very suspiciously. Meric couldn't tell whether Verres was a male or female, but he was betting it was a male. Getting a closer look at Verres, Meric saw that the creature was roughly his height, and was shaped similar to a human, except it looked more like a man-beast. Verres's calfs and forearms were thicker then its biceps and thighs, and there were spiney bones sticking out of its knees and elbows as well as sharp claws on its fingers and toes. It was wearing what looked like a partial suit of armor that covered its trunk and thighs. The armor's plates were damaged and worn away, they looked like they've been through many battles.

Meric finally dared to look Verres in the eye, and he shuddered in fear. Verres's face was a little unsettling, not ugly but intimidating. Its nose was spiney like its elbows, as was its brow. It had human-like hair which was orange and ratty. Out of its hair jutted two long horns out of the front of Verres's skull. Meric was completely frightened of Verres, who reminded him of someone you might meet in Hell.

'That's it,' Meric thought. 'I actually died, and this is some sort of weird Hell.'

Verres startled Meric when it spoke. Its words rasped at Meric's ears, and he cowered back. When Verres saw that Meric was scared, it walked away in satisfaction.

"Don't worry," Hyphlo said, putting her hand on Meric's shoulder to calm him. "She won't kill you. She always tries to intimidate people when she meets them, it's in her nature."

"She?" Meric said as he watched Verres sit down in the videogame chair and start her game back up.

"Yes, Verres is a female," Hyphlo said. "And she's quite un-ladylike. Just wait until you see a male of her species!"

"Oh god," Meric said. "What about you? What gender are you?"

"I'm androgynous," Hyphlo said.

"Androgynous?"

"Yes, androgynous," Hyphlo repeated. "It means that I am both male and female. My species reproduces asexually, without the help of others. Actually, we can be considered 'autosexual,' since our reproduction method is automatic and we have no control over it. I have an egg inside of me right now, which has been inside of me my entire life, and when I die the egg will feed off of my tissue, grow, and eventually hatch."

"That's interesting," Meric said. "So you only have one offspring?"

"Yes," Hyphlo said. "There is zero population growth in my species, and we are slowly dying out over the centuries. We are considered immortals, because if we are never killed then we never die. We also inherit the memories of our ancestors, not all at once but over the years. The longer I live, the further back I remember."

"How old are you?" Meric asked.

"Two-hundred and twenty-two years old," Hyphlo said. "I'm still young."

"Young?" Meric exclaimed. "I'm only twenty-one years old!"

"Yes, your species have very short life spans," Hyphlo said. "But that's okay. You're only a B-class species, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"What about Verres?" Meric asked. "How old is she?"

"She's younger than me," Hyphlo said. "She's fifty-one years old. Relative to your life span, she would be around thirteen years old. She's still very immature, but her skills in combat are invaluable to Tika and I. There have been many instances where we would have been in big trouble if Verres hadn't been with us. She doesn't have compassion for anyone except for her clan, and she considers Tika and I to be her clan. I'm sure she'll accept you into her clan in time. Either that or she'll kill you. We'll be crossing our fingers."

Hyphlo lead Meric into another, smaller chamber.

"This is the zero-gravity chamber, or the 'zero-grav' for short," Hyphlo explained. "Vaccuums in the floor will keep your feet down and vaccuums in the ceiling will keep you upright, but you can literally stand for days in here. This is where Tika and I relax. Verres doesn't really like this chamber."

The zero-grav was softly lit by glowing orange orbs in the corners. The walls were covered in a design that seemed to melt and shift, like the walls were animated. Either that or Meric was hallucinating.

"We vent a certain chemical in here that helps you relax," Hyphlo said. "It's absorbed straight into your cells. It's a popular opiate for many species, but we only vent it at small quantities so that we don't get too forgetful. You might notice the pattern on the walls moving. That's totally normal."

"This is nice," Meric said in a euphoric daze. "I like this room. This room is good."

"Yes, it is very nice," Hyphlo said. "It makes deep space travel a lot less boring. I would like to tell you more about my crewmates and I. Like I said, we are Rogues. Our group sort of began with Tika. She is a unique creature. She is the only known member of her species, and nobody knows where she came from. Her earliest memories were of her being alone on a lifeless planet. Her body is amazing, because she can subsist indefinately without food, water, or oxygen.

"She has very powerful psychic abilities, and her brain can simply absorb information. That's how she knew how to build this starship. She built it from the materials she had on her planet and flew away in it. She's an ingenious inventor, but she only invents for herself and her friends. She doesn't sell her inventions, and she doesn't work for any system or organization. I met her in a planet colony, we became friends, and we've been travelling the galaxy ever since.

"We picked up Verres along the way. Her species are a warring people, as you can imagine. First, let me explain the politics of our galaxy to you. I'll start at the top. The most powerful organization in the galaxy is the Interspecies Trust, or simply the Trust. The Trust consists of five different species. The first two species to be part of the Trust were my species, known as the 'Mirages,' and another species known as the 'Tempters.'

"My species, the Mirages, are among the most ancient species in the galaxy. Because of our autosexual reproduction and indefinate life spans, we've been able to survive for aeons. Our species didn't start out as autosexuals of course, we evolved this form of reproduction because of overpopulation. The roots of our species are difficult to determine since nobody can remember that far, and most of our ancient records and artifacts have long become dust. We really are a dying people, but we are dying very slowly. This vulnerability is what drove us to form an alliance with the Tempters.

"The Tempters are inferior to us Mirages in their aesthetics, wisdom, and history, but they are extremely clever and inventive. Theirs is the most advanced technology in the galaxy. The Tempters discovered us Mirages in their travels. They were the first known species to make contact with another intelligent species. In truth, we Mirages feared that the Tempters would destroy us or enslave us with their advanced weapons. Although we Mirages are very adept at deception, we have a weak cellular structure and we are not skilled in combat. When threatened, we generally assume an intimidating form. But we knew our simple intimidation methods would be useless against the clever Tempters, so we decided to woo them instead and make them love us. It wasn't difficult, since we Mirages are the most beautiful and charming species in the galaxy."

"What species is Verres?" Meric asked, intrigued by Hyphlo's story.

"She is a Hexer," Hyphlo said. "They are called Hexers because of their superstitious religion. They are known for throwing hexes, or curses, on their enemies and people they don't like. It is also common for parents to throw hexes on their children, to test and strengthen them. In their religion, hexes are more important than blessings. In their philosophy, hexes represent challenges, which are embodied by fire. Challenges can strengthen the spirit just like fire can temper a blade."

"What about the Tempters?" Meric asked. "Why are they called that?"

"Because of their religious practices, also," Hyphlo said. "They have a very ancient, structured religion. Not all Tempters follow their religion, just as I'm sure not all of your species follow a religion. But the majority of the Tempters that hold high offices in the Trust are very religious. Their religion gives them strength. Their religion is more about practice and ritual than it is about philosophy. In contrast, to the Hexers, their religion represents a philosophy, a way of thinking. The Tempters actually use their religion to bring about changes in the physical world, not just changes in the mind."

"What, you mean magic?" Meric said.

"Magic ... " Hyphlo said, thinking. "Yes, I guess you could call it magic. But it isn't mystical, it's scientific. They use mental and physical energy to bring about changes in reality. They are not gods, but they have more occult knowledge than any other species. They are actually quite similar to your species, as I have observed you. The reason they are called Tempters is because of the nature of their rituals. Instead of asking politely for their god to bless them, they taunt and provoke their god, thereby 'tempting' their god into action.

"We Mirages have a different religious view. We believe that our species sprang from one perfect being. This being, called the Perfection, was perfect in every way -- perfectly beautiful, perfectly wise, and perfectly strong, with perfectly balanced judgement. Even tho the Perfection had no flaws, it was alone. So, it split itself up, creating our species. I don't believe in this myth. I'm not a religious person. What about you? Are you religious?"

Meric thought for a second, then he spoke, "I'm not sure. I don't know if there is a God or not. I guess you could say my beliefs are a mix between atheism and omnitheism."

"I don't understand these words," Hyphlo said. "I've learned much of your language, but there are many words I don't understand yet."

"Atheism is the belief that there is no such thing as a God," Meric said. "So, you would be considered an atheist. However, omnitheism is the belief that God is everything, or that everything and everyone is an expression of God. So according to omnitheism, you are God and I am God, this ship is God, the air we breathe is God. Everything is God. God is everything."

"Well, that doesn't make sense at all," Hyphlo said. "How can you believe that there is no God and yet, God is everything? You're an extremely irrational species."

"Two conflicting ideas," Meric said cryptically. "Somewhere between is the truth."

"I don't understand it," Hyphlo said. "I've studied many cultures. Every culture and species has its idea of 'God,' but there is absolutely no scientific evidence that such a being exists. I think it's a side-effect of intelligence. It's a mental projection of each individual's idea of the Perfection."

"Or ... " Meric said. "Are we, as individuals, the Perfection's mental projections?"

"That's a cheap philosophy," Hyphlo said. "The truth is, I am here and you are here, and the Perfection is nowhere to be seen. But oh, I'm so sorry. Where is my tact? I pray you forgive my boldness. Ever since I left my homeworld and declared myself a Rogue, my manners have been slowly degrading. I was once much nicer."

"That's okay," Meric said. "I'd rather you be mean for real, than pretend to be nice."

"I like that," Hyphlo said. "You do suprise me, for a B-class species."

"So, what are the other two species in the Trust?" Meric asked. "I'd like to hear as much as you'll tell me."

"Very well," Hyphlo said. "I've told you about my species, the Mirages, and the Tempters, and the Hexers. The fourth species to be admitted into the Trust were the Sublimers. Even though there are several hundred intelligent species on file, a species is only admitted into the Trust, or even made known of its existance, if the species either has the means to discover the Trust, or if they possess a technology, science, physiology, or skill that is superior to that of the Trust. In that way, inferior or 'B-class' species like yours are left alone and protected so that they can continue on their natural evolution. However, if the Trust discovers a species to possess something that will aid them, the species is formally introduced to and accepted into the Trust.

"The Hexers were accepted into the Trust because of their physical strength and skill in battle, even though they are technologically, culturally, and intellectually inferior to the Tempters and us Mirages. When the Sublimers were discovered, they were a very peaceful species. Their governmental philosophy is the most effective in the galaxy in terms of peace-keeping, but only certain elements of it have been adopted by the Trust. Where the Sublimers excelled, apart from peacability, was in the arena of science. The science of the Sublimers was far ahead of that of even the Tempters. Before the Trust assimilated the scientific theory of the Sublimers, they had in their territory only a score of systems. After accepting the Sublimers into the Trust, their range and scope expanded exponentially, and the Trust has explored nearly 70% of the galaxy.

"Now, I know you were going to ask why they are called Sublimers. They are called Sublimers because of their unique brain function. Most species will fall asleep at certain intervals and sink into the subconscious regions of the brain. The brains of the Sublimers, however, operate on the conscious and subconscious levels simultaneously. They fluxuate between subconscious and conscious, and their thought patterns range from completely lucid to completely dillusional. To put it frankly, all Sublimers are a little schizophrenic. However, dillusion isn't seen by Sublimers as a weakness. They consider the subconscious mind to be the gateway to the 'Sublime', which is the plain of pure thought. The Sublime can be good or bad, beautiful or ugly, interesting or boring. The most important thing about the Sublime, to the Sublimers, is that they believe it to be the source of all untarnished knowledge. It would seem obvious that there is some salt in subconscious thought, since the Sublimers are theoretically unmatched."

"Wow," Meric said. "I wish I could just go into a dream whenever I wanted."

"Well, thankfully it isn't that way," Hyphlo said. "If you could control something like that, would you ever be fully conscious? You see, the Sublimers don't actually have control over it. They consider the subconscious mind to not only be out of our conscious control, but they consider the subconscious mind to be a seperate soul than ours. They believe each being is dually inhabited by two souls, the conscious and the subconscious. I see a parallel to this in the religion of the Hexers. The Hexers' religion is based on the principle of Fire versus Shadow. It's an ongoing battle because the battle goes on inside of the individual. In their view, Fire is the 'good' and Shadow is the 'bad,' to put it in plain terms. As I see it, the Fire represents your conscious mind and the Shadow represents your subconscious mind."

"I'd like to talk to a Sublimer," Meric said. "They sound very interesting."

"Oh, it's perfectly impossible to talk to a Sublimer!" Hyphlo said. "They can't stay lucid for too long before they forget you're there and stop talking to you. It is better to read their writing, and a whole lot easier than talking to them. We Mirages are the best conversationalists in the galaxy, by far. Tempters are too secretive and Hexers are too hostile. Besides, I'd challenge you to find a being with more memorable experience than a Mirage. I can say for myself that I vividly remember the past three millenia."

"How long has the Trust been in existance?" Meric asked.

"The Trust is approaching the one-hundred-thousanth year since its formation," Hyphlo said. "A grand celebration will be had during that year, but there are still a couple of centuries before then."

"How come Mirages remember so much?" Meric asked.

"Did you forget?" Hyphlo asked. "We inherit the memories of our predecessors as our lives go on. Mirages aren't referred to by their physical age after rebirth, but they are referred to by how many years they can remember. There is a general equation for age-rememberance, but it varies with each individual."

"So what about the fifth species?" Meric asked.

"Oh, the Weepers," Hyphlo said with disdain. "They have only been members of the Trust for less than a century. They're blemishes on the face of the Trust, if you ask me. They're ugly, they're stupid, they're weak, they're barbaric and hedonistic, and they are much too emotional. They are called Weepers for no hidden reason."

"Why were they accepted into the Trust?" Meric asked.

"Because of their planet's resources," Hyphlo said. "Their planet is large and it contains extremely abundant mineral reserves. For the first century their planet was in the Trust's territory, it was seen as a D-class planet because we didn't know the Weepers were their. You see, planets get classified into one of five classes. Most planets discovered are E-class, which are barren desert planets with no life at all on them. D-class planets have atmosphere and non-intelligent life. C-class planets have uncivilized intelligent life. B-class planets have sub-standard intelligent life, like your species. And A-class planets have standard intelligent life, like my species.

"Since the Weepers' planet was considered D-class, the resources were protected by environmental law. The Trust couldn't mine the planet because it was against their own laws to disrupt the natural evolution of the un-intelligent species on the planet. However, it was discovered in the second century of the planet's discovery that there was a C-class subterranean intelligent species living below the planet's surface. Since the Trust is non-imperialistic, they would not simply conquer the species and take their minerals. Thus, the Weepers were accepted into the Trust and free trade began with their species in order to acquire their massive mineral resources. Their planet is actually quite beautiful on the surface. There are grand jungles and vast seas, but the most impressive feature are the giant crystal statues that litter the surface.