Watching Yute Read Free Page B

she’d left him yesterday. “Uh, yeah, I don’t know
what it was, I’m sorry I didn’t even contact you later.”
    “ It’s cool. Sick is
sick.”
    She considered coming clean. He was an
okay guy, he wouldn’t spaz. But at the same time, she didn’t want
his pity, or any such garbage. “Yeah, I’m still not a hundred
percent, but good enough.”
    During patrol, her terminal wiggled
with another message. Brandy? She had to find a private spot again.
“McKinney? Can I split for a sec?”
    “ Uh? Er, yeah, take your
time.”
    She made haste to the nearest washroom,
and checked her messages.
    “ Hello, Leftenent Cassidy!”
What the heck, the message wasn’t Brandy, it was the weird older
guy from the other night, when she threw the gun at the drunk. He
was in a cheerful mood.
    “ Last night I was talking to
your C.O., Colonel Calvert, and I asked if I might maybe have you
transferred to my unit. I don’t think I properly introduced myself
last night. Major Marcus Douglas. I run the Yute temple honour
guard. Anyway, I had come to the Yute Central base to finally meet
Calvert and request a replacement troop, and then I ran into you.
You seemed like a good choice, so I asked Calvert if I could ask
you to come over to my unit. It’s your call, but it’s a nice post,
and it comes with a bit of a pay raise. I’ve attached the basic
infodump briefing on the installation. Let me know, and if you have
any questions, just ask.”
    The message ended, and Cassidy noticed
that same look in his eyes that she saw that night. It was a calm
look that seemed to just stare right out of the screen, through her
head, the ceiling, and up into the sky, into space.
    Cassidy huffed, absorbing the
information. She opened the attached infodump. It popped up
onscreen.

    INFODUMP: YUTE TEMPLE HONOUR
GUARD
    In accordance with treaties with the
aboriginal Aguei nation, the Aguola military maintains an outpost
for an honour guard to protect the Yute temple.
    This vigil consists of six soldiers at
any one time, generally separated into 3 standard 8 hour shifts per
day. These soldiers carry weapons inspired by the traditional Aguei
people.

    “ Wow, informative.” Cassidy
shrugged. The underlined phrases led to other infodumps. The Aguola
infodump was doubtlessly a sprawling documentary, from the first
European settlers, to the forming of the world’s second largest
island nation (after Australia), then through the involvement in
the world wars, blah blah blah.
    She certainly didn’t need to hear any
more about the Aguei, being the largest minority on the continent
nation of Aguola. It was common knowledge. When settlers first
arrived, relations were less than smooth, but a few hundred years
had found a balance much as it had in Aguola's 'sister-nation'
Australia, or the Americas.
    Cassidy had heard of the Yute temple,
but wasn’t as familiar with it. Of course everyone at the Yute
Central base was aware of it, but on the whole, it was ignored. She
tapped the link just to see. It took on a more documentary tone,
and less military.

    INFODUMP: YUTE TEMPLE
    Deep within the Yute Desert, lies a
ruined city, assumed to have been built by the ancestors of the
Aguei. The Aguei knowledge base however, holds little to illuminate
the details behind the grand temple that sits in the middle of the
ruins. Lacking its original name, it has become known only as the
Yute Temple. The temple exhibits construction of similar technique,
but of better quality than the surrounding ruins, While the ruins
are nearly entirely destroyed, the temple has withstood centuries
of sandstorms much better.
    The temple’s outward appearance would
make it remarkable enough, but this becomes secondary in
consideration of the grand statue in the middle of the temple. It
bears no resemblance to anything in Aguei lore, but its fierce
appearance has garnered it the nickname of “The Yute
Demon”.
    While the Aguei consider the temple and
statue sacred, there has never been a