Only the man’s face and upper torso could be seen through the transparent portion of the tank. He was young, probably only a few years older than Elegy. The blue light illuminated his toned muscles. He had dark skin and tightly curled hair, and despite his closed eyes his face looked almost troubled.

Elegy had met plenty of Benefactors, of course. The Archbishop CEO of the Lasstopian branch of the Arvakr Corporation, for example, as well as the Exalted Researchers who developed and improved the tech that created Surveyors. He’d even spoken with a few of the tanker captains who occasionally arrived from other systems to pick up and disperse Astral Dew. However, this was an ancient Benefactor, from back in the war. He must have been sleeping in this tank for a thousand years.

Assuming he was sleeping and not dead. Elegy looked over the front of the tank. There was a panel covered in buttons of various colors, but he had no idea what any of them did. There was also a red lever attached to the side of the tank. That looked more promising. Nervously, hesitating several times, Elegy gave it a pull.

Several things happened at once. The light changed from blue to red and a small alarm began buzzing angrily somewhere above the tank. For a moment, Elegy feared he had made a mistake, but the liquid began to slowly drain out of the tank. There was a loud hum of what sounded like fans. After several minutes, the tank finished draining and there was a high-pitched hiss as the front half of it swung open. Elegy quickly averted his eyes as he realized the man was naked. It seemed that the man had been leaning against a sort of gurney which had held him upright at a slight angle. Now it extended down and out, until he was lying horizontal.

Elegy allowed himself a brief glance. There was nothing attached to the man. No IV or catheter. Whatever this tank did, it seemed to completely halt the processes of life. Elegy supposed this made sense. Ancient Benefactors were said to be long-lived, but a thousand years seemed unbelievable.

It occurred to Elegy that he was going to have to check on the man, and that this was going to require looking at him for more than a brief glimpse. Taking a deep breath, he looked again. The man was so still that he might have been dead. Elegy approached the table slowly. The more he looked at the man, the more it seemed normal seeing someone naked. But how to check if someone was alive?

His chest wasn’t moving. Tentatively, Elegy placed his hand under the man’s nose, but found he couldn’t feel any breath. Maybe he should check the man’s pulse? How did one do that? When the doctor visited, he always checked Elegy’s pulse by holding his wrist, but Elegy had never been able to feel his own in that way. Instead, he placed a hand on the man’s chest. He felt nothing. Fearful, he pressed a little harder.

Suddenly the man inhaled a deep breath. Elegy yelped in surprise, and took a few steps back, looking away again.

The man let out a soft moan, then seemed to hesitate. “Where am I?”

How to answer that question? “You’re on a crashed Benefactor ship. I found you underground.”

“What are you talking about? Wait, was I put in stasis? When? I don’t even remember. Are we at least nearing the Queen?”

The Queen? Was this a war ship that had fought her? “I’m sorry. I’m not really sure what’s going on. I just found you like this.”

Elegy could feel the man’s eyes on him as he drowsily continued his questioning. “Who are you? You’re not wearing a uniform. Why are the lights off?”

Finally, his voice seemed to snap to awareness as his voice took on a frightened tone. “How long was I in stasis?”

“A thousand years,” Elegy replied. “Probably a thousand years.”

“Oh,” the man said simply. The news seemed to be too big for him to fathom. “Can you get me something to wear?”

Elegy looked around. “Uh…”

“The cabinet over there.” The man sat up and pointed to a set of drawers. Elegy pulled it open and found a set of clothes. He pulled them out and handed them to the man, still averting his eyes.

“Can’t believe these are still fine after a thousand years,” the man said as he stood and dressed. “Can’t believe any of this is still working. Take that, entropy, right? I’m Reggie, by the way.”

Now that he was dressed, Elegy turned to face the man. The clothes turned out to be a uniform marked with the icon of the Arvakr Corporation. They fit him snugly. “I’m Hallowed Surveyor Elegy.”

Reggie frowned. “Which part of that is a name?”

“Elegy,” Elegy answered with a giggle.

Reggie stretched, reaching his arms way above his head. “I have so many questions. Where do I even begin? I guess...where am I? What planet is this, even?”

“Lasstop,” Elegy said.

Reggie nodded. “Makes sense. Last I remember, we were on our way to Outpost Thirty.”

He gestured for Elegy to follow him and the pair made their way back into the halls.

“What do you mean?” Elegy asked as he caught up.

“Outpost Thirty. They call it the Last Stop because it’s where ships refuel before deep space exploration. Did you forget the original name over the years?”

Elegy shrugged. “Maybe the other Benefactors would be able to explain this stuff better than me.”

“What’s a Benefactor?”

Elegy blinked in surprise. “You are. Maybe they didn’t call you that back then? But they’re the people with ships like these. Who protect us from the Queen.”

Reggie made a troubled noise. “She’s still alive? She’s been menacing people for the last thousand years? I can’t even imagine how many lives have been lost. We failed so badly.”

The pair reached a room with several computer desks and a complicated mass of machinery that took up most of the walls. Reggie sat down at one of the desks and pressed a button on the computer. The monitor began to glow green.

“It’s okay. The Arvakr Corporation found a way to protect everyone. Astral Dew keeps the Queen away from populated planets.”

Reggie paused what he was doing to give Elegy an incredulous look. “Astral Dew? That’s just fuel. It’s not going to chase away the Queen.”

Elegy shook his head. “Some of it is used as fuel, but its main purpose is to keep the Queen away.”

“How does this process work, exactly?”

Elegy shifted uncomfortably, sensing that, depending on his answer, Reggie was about to say something devastating. “Surveyors like me find the Astral Dew, Lasstopian workers dig it up, then the Benefactors at the Arvakr Corporation’s home office send tankers which we fill with the Dew and they take it up into space and disperse it around the planet.”

“Is that so?” Reggie asked. “And how long does this dispersal take?”

“I don’t know,” Elegy admitted. “They go straight back to the home office after dispersing it.”

“Buddy, I think you’ve been taken.”

Elegy felt panic rise. He had to clear up this misunderstanding as soon as possible. “No, it’s not a trick. The Queen hasn’t appeared in all the time they’ve been doing it.”

Reggie’s stare was uncompromising. “Has anyone ever gone with them? Made sure they were really dispersing it?”

“There are weight limits…”

Reggie barked out a laugh. “They’re hauling Astral Dew by the ton and they can’t carry an extra person or two?”

Elegy could feel the tears forming in his eyes and desperately tried to hold them back. “Look, I’m sure if you talk to the other Benefactors they can explain everything.”

Reggie turned back to face the computer, which had finished booting and now displayed a list of options. “That or they’ll kill me or imprison me to shut me up.”

“They wouldn’t do that to one of their own people,” Elegy protested.

“I doubt they’ll see me as one of theirs.”

How could this be going so wrong? Elegy had accidentally convinced Reggie that the Benefactors were his enemy. “What else are you going to do? You can’t stay here forever.”

“I’m going to get this ship working again.” Reggie gestured to the computer screen. “Look here, I’ve just run a diagnostic and it’s telling me which systems are damaged. Now it’s going to ask me some questions about the current situation. Let’s see…” He began typing as questions appeared on screen. “Just one crew member...on a planet with a breathable atmosphere...no contact with other planets. Looks like the first thing I should fix is...the FTL communication.”

He frowned. “Well, no, that’s not going to help, so we’ll just skip that.” He typed something. “Okay, medical equipment. That’s no good either.” He typed again. “There we go. Main computers. And here’s a handy-dandy set of instructions on what I need to do. Can probably find some tools around here somewhere.”

Reggie got up and started walking. It took a moment for Elegy to recover from being stunned and he had to trot to catch up. “You’re going to fix the ship on your own?”

“You can help if you want. But, yeah, I’m taking this ship up. Ideally without any of your ‘Benefactors’ noticing.”

Elegy didn’t know what to make of this. Benefactors didn’t go against Benefactors. Was this how Madeline had felt when he’d asked her to contradict the bishop? “But any pieces of buried ancient tech belong to the Arvakr Corporation.”

Reggie opened another door, this one leading to a closet full of various tools. He tugged on the chest of his uniform. “Well, I’m an employee of Arvakr, too, so as far as I’m concerned this ship is as much mine as theirs. Besides, if they’re claiming ownership of all buried tech, I’d hate to find out what that means for people in stasis pods.”

“Oh, I’m sure they don’t mean people,” Elegy replied.

“This is a corporation that scammed an entire planet into digging up fuel for them.” Reggie sneered as he selected a screwdriver. “They don’t exactly care about human rights.”

“But they do so much good,” Elegy protested, trotting to catch up again as Reggie made his way back to the computer room. “They give people jobs. They’ve brought all kinds of new medical technology. And they built the Surveyors’ Estate where I live.”

Reggie sighed as he crouched down at one end of the mass of tech that dominated the computer room and began unscrewing a panel. “Look, I’m not interested in shattering your world view. Keep believing in the Benefactors if you want. All I ask is that you tell no one I’m here. And maybe bring me some food so I don’t starve.”

Elegy considered this. It wasn’t exactly opposing the Arvakr Corporation. It wasn’t his job to find and dig up lost tech. If an archaeologist had failed to find this ship, that was their responsibility, not his. Besides, he wanted to know more about this man.

“Alright. I won’t tell anyone.”

Reggie nodded with satisfaction. “Wish I could remember what happened. We must have been attacked, but why? Based on the lack of skeletons, everyone else must have evacuated. But why leave me behind in stasis? And if it’s really been a thousand years, how is any of this still working?”

Elegy’s mind still swirled with questions of his own. Was it really possible that he’d been lied to his entire life? That the entire planet had been? Of course, what made Reggie such an authority on the modern-day Benefactors, anyway? He had been frozen for centuries; there was no way he could spot the truth without the generations of context. Still, Elegy would have to speak with the Benefactors about this when he got home.

With a flash, he remembered that he was supposed to be somewhere else right now. “I need to get back to camp. I’ll come back tomorrow and bring you food.”

“Thanks, Elegy,” Reggie replied. “Remember, tell no one about me.”

Elegy made his way back up the same ladder he had climbed down. By the time he made it back to the top, the adrenaline from exploring the ship had left him and he was back to being exhausted. To make matters worse, it was now so dark he could barely see where he was stepping. Slowly and carefully, slipping and falling several times on invisible rocks, he made his way back down the hill, across the work site and back up to the trailer. When he arrived, he found Madeline standing out front, wide eyes suddenly becoming relieved.

“Surveyor, you’re safe!” she said.

“Yeah, of course I am,” he replied, trying to sound casual. “I just took a walk.”

“You were gone for so long. No one could find you. Everyone’s out looking for you now.” She still sounded panicked.

Elegy groaned. “Madeline, why’d you tell them? Now Bishop Meekins is going to give me another lecture.”

“I—” Madeline began. She paused to collect herself. “I may have acted in haste. I apologize, my Surveyor.” She gave a bow.

“It’s alright. I guess we should let them know I’m safe and get this over with.”

While Elegy went inside to finally eat his dinner, Madeline found one of the workers to spread word that Elegy was safe. Within an hour, the bishop was back in the trailer, looming over Elegy.

“Are you out of your mind? You can’t go wandering off like that. You’re too important.”

For some reason, Elegy no longer felt his previous need to look away. “I took a walk. I don’t see the big deal.”

“This isn’t like the estate,” Bishop Meekins explained. “There are unvetted workers everywhere.”

Elegy shrugged. “So what? We all have the same goals, don’t we?”

The bishop took a deep breath. When he spoke again he was much calmer. “Low-level workers aren’t like us. Remember the teachings of the Benefactors. Those who work hard and take on responsibilities rise to the top. Those who are lazy and blame others for their problems remain at the bottom. Low-level workers don’t understand that we’re looking out for their best interest. In their frustration at their own mediocrity, they risk lashing out and hurting us even though they’re really only hurting themselves.”

Elegy thought about that. It did make sense. He was working hard just by being here during the festival. And simply being a Surveyor was an enormous responsibility. “I see. I hadn’t thought of it from their perspective before.”

The bishop smiled. “I’m glad I’m finally getting through to you.”

Elegy smiled back. “I’m sorry for how I acted earlier. I think staying here for the next few days is going to be good for me.”

“Thank you, Surveyor, for the protection you bring us.”

The bishop turned to leave.

“Wait, Bishop Meekins. I have a question.”

The bishop paused. “Yes?”

“Has anyone from Lasstop ever been in space?”

“Of course not, Elegy. You know about the weight restrictions.”

“But they never took just a little less Dew one time? Just to take one of us up to disperse the Dew or to visit the home office?”

The bishop frowned. “Why are you asking this now, of all times?”

Elegy tried to think of an excuse. “It’s just something that I thought of while I was on my walk.”

Bishop Meekins placed a comforting hand on Elegy’s shoulder. “Questions are very natural. But I think you’re smart enough to figure this one out yourself. You trust in the Benefactors don’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Then utilize that trust. Remember it as you ponder these questions. The answer will come to you.”

Elegy nodded. “Okay. That makes sense.”

The bishop gave his shoulder a squeeze. “You have a good night.” He turned and left.

Something, Elegy decided, was definitely wrong with what he had been taught.