The Refiner Chapter One

Chapter 1

My whole life I’ve lived in a junkyard. Today is a day like every other, spending my time after school working to lift and salvage the various pieces of junk that flow through my family’s yard. It’s dangerous business, but I’m so used to it that it barely registers as work.

My parents run Alroe Junkyard, a run-of-the-mill scrap recycling center on the outskirts of a suburb. Towers of rusted cars, broken bins, and various other metal objects loom over my family’s house. The interior is packed with smaller scrap, like microwaves and old toys and defunct shopping carts. It feels normal to me, and I’ve never been anywhere different.

Work ends at the usual time. I climb up a pile of broken sedans covered in red rust and sit down at a small perch between two vehicles. The moon is rising over the city in the distance, spreading its light onto the eerie formations of junk that surround me.

I’ve spent many evenings atop towers of junk like this. This is one of my favorite spots.

I catch sight of a shooting star spiraling downwards, straight towards my family’s junkyard. With a puff of smoke, much less than could be expected from a meteor or something natural, it lands in a small clearing in the junkyard’s center. I scamper down the pile of junk I’m sitting on and traverse the canyons until I reach the site.

It’s a small metal pod, alien-like, releasing a wisp of smoke. I reach out and feel that it is cold.

The door opens. A wiggling mass of worms lurches out at me.

I grab the nearest steel beam and smack the worm away.

The wiggling mass straightens itself and turns towards me. Though it has no eyes, I know it is looking at me.

This is an alien. I’ve had a close encounter.

The alien life form backs away a couple of steps. It shimmers for a moment, and then turns into a small, fairy-like person of about human proportions. It coughs a couple of times.

“Wrong zoology, damnit,” the doll says. Her visage flickers like a video game glitch. “This is Sol, not Darkun. Damn traders lied to me.” She coughs again, and then turns to me. “You,” she says. “Be my host.”

I take a step back. “Host?” I say.

The doll flickers and then takes a couple of steps towards me. “Indeed. Host. I need one to survive more than five minutes on this planet. Unlike you giants, my species isn’t capable of withstanding seventeen gravities for long.” A burbling sound comes out of her mouth. “You do speak American English, don’t you?”

I take another step back, wielding my steel rod.

The fairy-alien looks at my makeshift weapon with an expression of curiosity. “Is that true steel?” she says. “Your species is, how would you put it, not even K 1?”

“Er, no,” I say.

“I’ll cut you a deal,” says the fairy. “You let me inhabit you, and I give you powers that are beyond your comprehension.”

I shake my head. “That comes with a caveat, right?”

“You betcha,” says the fairy-alien. She cracks her neck and her whole body goes glitchy. “Technically I’m not a physical essence like you are. I have a mission to complete and lots of enemies after me. I can merge with your spirit and give you access to The Realm. In return, you can work with me to achieve my goals.”

“What’s The Realm?” I ask.

“A place where you can earn lots of money,” says the fairy. “I have information that tells me that’s all I need to convince you monkeys.” She tilts her head. “Unless you don’t like to be compared with a species several hundred thousand years removed from your bloodline?”

I see a shadow atop the nearest pile of junk. A ninja? No, my eyes must be going crazy due to this little alien here.

But, no. The ninja reveals itself, holding a thin, shining blade.

The fairy turns to look at it. “Welp. Looks like the Flowers Guild has located me already.” The fairy turns to me. “Absorb me, or let me die. It’s your choice.”

I hesitate.

The ninja leaps down from the pile of junk and lands in front of me, between me and the alien. All I can see are his or her eyes, as her figure blends into the darkness of the night.

“Give up the Atristian,” says the ninja, in a female voice.

“Do you even need his permission?” says the Atristian. She disappears and then reappears on my shoulder. “I’ve claimed him first.”

The ninja pulls out another blade. “I see you have made a pact with my enemy,” she says. “Now you will have to die.”

I swing my steel bar wildly and smash it into the ninja’s face. The steel beam comes to a halt a millimeter before her skin and a reverberating backlash runs through my arms.

The fairy alien melds with my body and I suddenly get the feeling that there is another person inside me. Nothing much more than a feeling, but it’s enough to put me off balance.

“Well, we didn’t have much choice now, did we?” says the alien fairy. “Call me Alice. I’ll be with you for as long as you don’t die.” My body is surrounded by a beam of light, and then I am floating high above the city, with my parent’s junkyard just a tiny little square below me.

Wind rips around my ears, and I see the entirety of the Area Valley spread out before me. The lights remind me of a starfield.

“I can fly?” I say, out of surprise.

“You can’t,” says Alice. “I used an emergency skill. We’ll float down, but I need you to direct your fall in the direction I indicate.” She pauses. “I won’t tell you where I’m taking you now, but know that if anyone asks, I’m an Ethelitarian, not an Atristian.”

“What’s the difference?” I ask.

“Everyone likes Ethes, and no one likes Atristians,” says Alice. “Don’t ask me how it got that way. Go south.”

“Which way is south?” I ask.

An arrow points away from me, floating in space.

“Am I the only one who can see that?” I ask.

“Indeed,” says Alice. “Now go. The Flowers Guild will be interrogating your parents, but they won’t hurt them. The Flowers Guild doesn’t operate like that.”

“Why are they trying to kill you?” I ask.

“Capture me, not kill me,” says Alice. “It’s because all aliens that don’t go through customs get deported.”

“Is that enough to threaten to kill me?” I ask.

“That’s probably just that individual agent’s style,” says Alice. “Go east.”

An arrow points east. I follow it.

“That compound there,” says Alice. “It’s a safe harbor.”

I float down towards the compound that Alice points at, landing in a courtyard. The whole area is lit by high power arc lamps.

“You said something about seventeen gravities,” I say, as I look around the empty courtyard.

“You homo sapiens live on one of the largest habitable planets in the galaxy. Add that to the fact that most species live in solution and you have a recipe for an alien pancake.”

“And you didn’t wear a suit?” I ask.

“You just couldn’t see it,” says Alice. “It’s in another dimension.”

An arrow points me towards a central building. “Go there,” says Alice.

“What is this place?” I ask.

“A government-run facility,” says Alice. “It will offer a safe harbor for any alien refugees for a period of time.”

“You’re a refugee?” I ask.

Alice is silent.

I come to the doorway of the building and push it open. A receptionist looks up at me from her desk. Her eyes look like those of a cat.

“Hello, darling,” says the receptionist. “We’re not accepting visitors at this moment.”

“I’m not here to visit,” is say. “I merged with a, uh, an Ethilitarian.”

“Hum,” says the receptionist. “What’s your name?”

“Mason Alroe,” I say.

“We’ll have you sorted out in no time,” says the receptionist. “Please stay seated here so that I can fill out some paperwork.” She hands me a pen, a stack of paperwork, and a clip board.

“This is not what I was expecting,” I say, to Alice.

“Just roll with it,” says Alice. “I’m not the one who sets up alien bureaucracy.”

“How did you know about this place?” I ask.

“The internet,” says Alice. “You homo sapiens do have that figured out, at least.”

“So you’ve never been here,” I ask.

“No,” says Alice. “But then again, I’d never set foot on Earth before two hours ago.”

“About that power you were saying you would give me,” I ask.

“The Realm?” says Alice. “Ah, yeah. There are plenty of you homo sapiens who participate in The Realm. Not everyone has had contact with an alien, but it’s a thing that transcends species and interstellar space.”

“You said I could make money,” I say.

“Depends on how your power manifests.”

I fill out a few check boxes on the forms I was given. “Well, then how do I get it to manifest?” I ask.

“Just think about it,” says Alice.

I think about it. A light forms in my hand, and then a roll of copper wire falls out.

“Hey, cool!” says Alice. “You’re a refiner!”

“Wait, what?” I say, as I examine the wire. It’s good quality. I shove it into my pocket and then continue filling out the form. When I’m done I hand it to the receptionist, who hasn’t been paying me any attention.

“Thanks, honey,” she says.

“So, a refiner," I say, as I sit back down. “What can I do?”

“Create stuff,” says Alice. “Refine stuff.”

“This is a bit anticlimactic,” I say.

“Not really,” says Alice. “With a refining skill, you can do almost anything. It’s the second most versatile skill category, behind scribe.”

“Can I make a tank?” I ask.

“Given enough time, yes,” says Alice. “But you’d need to absorb that much material first.”

“I live in a junkyard,” I say. “I have enough scrap lying around to create an armored division.”

“Hahaha!” laughs Alice. “Let’s see you do that. After all, I didn’t come here to Earth to just sightsee.”

“What did you come here for?” I ask.

“Let’s deal with one thing at a time,” says Alice.

The receptionist stands up. “Mr. Alroe,” she says, “Please follow me.”

I follow the receptionist down a hall. She stops at a door to an office and knocks. “Dr. Bast,” she says, “We have a fusion.”

“Come in,” says a man’s voice.

I step into the room. The receptionist backs away.

“I hear you absorbed an Ethelitarian,” he says. “We know who you are and we’ve already acted to blank your parents and anyone who was close to you.”

“Wait, what?” I ask.

“They think you just transferred abroad for a program,” says Dr. Bast.

“What?” I say. “It’s been three hours since I last met the alien inside me!”

“We work fast because we have to,” says Dr. Bast. “Don’t worry. We won’t hurt you. You have a lot of value to a number of organizations. But, since you’re new to this, you’re going to have to go to school as well.”

“School?” I say. “What the hell is happening? I didn’t sign up for any of this!”

“You contracted with an alien,” says Dr. Bast. “That means that you will be hunted.” He tilts his head. “Have you already had an encounter with that?”

“Er, yeah,” I say. “Someone called the Flowers Guild.”

“Ah, yes,” says Dr. Bast. “Them. I don’t envy you.”

“What is going to happen to me?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” says Dr. Bast. “But I know you’ll have lots of adventures from here on out.”

“And don’t think of running,” says Alice. “I need your help. And we’re going to do what I’ve come here to do.”

I sigh. “Okay. At least it’s better than the life that I had before.”