#citizen-sleeper

[inprnt]

"Botanists in Space" by Geneva Bowers on INPRNT

[citizen-khen]

Sleeper, wake up.

Summary:

Sleeper — you have been so focused on surviving for just over a dozen cycles, and yet it has felt like your whole life. But Sleeper — there is more to life than surviving. This form feels pain and hunger and indignance and rage… so why not trust and love as well? The life of a Sleeper on the run is a cruel one, but past the inevitable betrayal and loss, your kindness shines through — for better, or for worse.

A story of the bonds Sleeper creates — and loses — throughout their time on The Eye. Mostly will be filling in the gaps between scenes that exist in game rather than reiterating any dialogue, but may end up taking some creative liberties with timing, characters' storylines and relationships, and the setting of The Eye.

Rating: Mature Length: 148K+ words; Chapters 59/??

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[inprnt]

"Botanists in Space" by Geneva Bowers on INPRNT

[citizen-khen]

Sleeper, wake up.

Chapter 59 - Histories

Chapter Summary: Sleeper fulfills their mission.

Rating: Mature Length: 148K+ words; Chapters 59/??

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Excerpt below:

Among all of those with whom you have become acquainted on the Eye, you never would have expected Ethan to be your chosen companion for dinner. You both sit on stools in the shadow of the safest meeting place you can think of — Emphis’ food stall. Your friend grunts a greeting, unceremoniously plopping a bowl of your usual and some chopsticks. But despite his nonchalant demeanor, you can feel his eyes and ears studying you and your dinner companion, watching over you.

You wish you could reassure him that it’s now a much different dynamic than the last time you and Ethan ate together here. You don’t discuss business, but rather you sit in silence as you both slurp and munch on the spicy mushrooms.

That is, until you venture to turn to Ethan. 

“Did you actually know the identity of my consciousness?” you ask him. 

Ethan takes a long sip of his drink. 

“Alongside your serial number I had your old name. A face. A place of birth.” He looks at you, swirling his tumbler. “But it seems you know all that now. What else would you want to know?”

“Do I have any family left alive?” you ask. You feel small, insignificant. You know the answer doesn’t matter — you can’t do anything with it. 

You prepare yourself for the man to taunt and mock you, but instead he carefully places his chopsticks down and rubs at his brow.

“I’m sorry, Sleeper,” Ethan says, and to your surprise it seems that he actually means it. “That I don’t know.” He hesitates. “Maybe you don’t want to hear this, but… I remember hearing that the Typha colonies collapsed some time ago. I heard a handful are still viable, but I don’t know which.”

You nod, sipping your drink. It’s about what you expected. If Castor didn’t know, you have little hope anyone else outside of Essen-Arp would either.

The two of you don’t talk much more as you finish up your dinner. You drop some chits into Emphis’ box and he grunts in thanks before you and Ethan take off for the evening. It occurs to you that you have no clue where Ethan lives, or why you are being so courteous as to walk him wherever he’s going next. He seems amused by this fact.

“May and I stay in our ship where we’re docked,” he explains unprompted, glancing towards the docks. “The docking fees are a bitch, but it’s better than holding up in a shipping container, eh?”

‘May’ and ‘our ship…’ you almost wish you were close enough with Ethan to tease him about the way he casually throws around the words — especially as a small, fond smirk creeps onto his lips.

“I think that’s close enough, both of you.”

Maywick emerges from the shadows, nodding at you in greeting. “You shouldn’t be seen together,” he reprimands them without much heat.

“He’s jealous,” Ethan rolls his eyes at you. “Don’t worry, you’re still my favorite sleeper,” he drawls at Maywick before peeling off. “I’m gonna take a whizz. You two assholes go on and catch up about whatever robot shit you’ve got to talk about.”

Maywick sighs as the blond man leaves, before turning to you and beckoning you to join him in the shadowy corner. 

You raise an eyebrow at him. “I thought you said we shouldn’t be seen together.”

“I just wanted to get rid of him,” Maywick shrugs. “I did want to talk with you… sleeper to sleeper.”

“Alright,” you humor him. “You have my attention.”

Maywick seems to mull over his words before speaking, his voice still distorted and croaky.

“I’m glad I didn’t succeed in killing you,” he says quietly. “You are the best of us.” 

You scoff reflexively. 

“I’m just another pawn in all this,” you insist, but Maywick waves you away. 

“Of us. ” He gestures to himself. “Among sleepers, I imagine very few are capable of what you have done. The things you have endured to prevent this station from collapsing upon itself…” 

He smiles tightly at you. It contorts the scars upon his face and neck as he swallows, weighing his words carefully.

“Sometimes,” he hesitates, “I wish I were one of those other factory sleepers. Despite everything that happened to all of you, you had each other.” 

He looks at you. “I was private military before I willingly entered the program. But I was dying from a terminal illness, and Essen-Arp thought it would be such a waste for me to grow feeble and let all that talent die. So when they offered me more time to live? You bet I took it.” 

He slips off a glove, studying his own hands. “But when I woke up, I wasn’t whole. I woke up and immediately knew I had lost the things that made me human — memories of family, food… they built me to look more human than others, but I could never pass as one of them. I wanted to be like them, and I hated the parts of me that weren't. 

“I found pleasure in hunting sleepers like you — sleepers like us. I liked the satisfaction of watching the light of their eyes extinguish. Like a star blinking out of sight forever. It helped me think that I was not like them. 

“So long as I was out on a job, I could be human. I could be whatever I wanted. But whenever I was back among other hunters, I’d be reminded that I was nothing more than a ghost. I was always alone, and I thought I liked it that way.”

He looks over towards where Ethan is clambering into a ship and cracks a smile. Ethan pauses before he enters, removing his cigarette to blow a stream of smoke out before dropping it unceremoniously to the floor.

“I never would have divided up the finder’s fee with Ethan,” Maywick states matter-of-factly. “He was a loose end to Essen-Arp and an inconvenience. So when we first saw each other again, he was ready to kill me. And I was ready to kill him.”

“Yeah…” you eye their ship. “So how does this work?”

Maywick chuckles, and it’s a choked, gravelly sound. 

“Isn’t it obvious, Sleeper?” he drawls. “It’s my charming personality and devastating good looks.” 

“...okay,” you say after a moment. You suppose you’re never going to get a straight answer – this will likely remain one of the galaxy’s greatest mysteries to you. 

[north-bi-northwest]

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

Played on: PC (Steam) Developer: Jump Over The Age Release Date: 01/02/2025 At risk of giving away my opinion in the first line, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is really bloody good. I know it’s only a couple of months into 2025, but it’s already making a compelling argument for game of the year. For those of you just after the pithy game journalist-esque summary, Citizen Sleeper is like…

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