The Black Queen

Tara Mason playing chess against Fell Gratia

Fila Brazillia - Subtle Body

The Train — a fast-moving space station up in low planetary orbit — was these days more of a social spot than the research station it was previously prized for. Tara slipped through the airlock into the bar, whose unfamiliar racket promised to drown out the now familiar silence in her head. Anxiety and a strange, persistent loneliness had become her constant companions this week, her off-duty ID clung to her belt, still on forced leave by the station psychiatrist. She claimed a vodka tonic from the bar, her eyes catching Fell’s shape across the sea of strangers.

“Where have you been?” he asked as she approached.

“Training engineers, remember?” she returned, sliding into the seat opposite.

Fell, a skull-coyote vulpkanin, brooded over his drink, the ghost-lights in his sockets casting a muted, steady glow. Beside him, a silent kitsune girl with three sweeping tails surveyed the room with tranquil eyes.

“I was never any good at engineering,” Fell rumbled, picking up the thread of her comment. It wasn’t a complaint, but a statement of fact.

Tara took a long swallow of her drink. “It’s not about being ‘good’ at it,” she replied, clearing her throat. “It’s about making a decision when everything’s on fire and you have no good options.”

Fell shook his head, a wry smile touching his muzzle. “Decisions, not knowledge. Right.” He gestured to a half-arranged chessboard on the table. “Speaking of which.” He began setting up the remaining pieces.

“Oh,” Tara responded, raising an eyebrow. “I guess I’m playing.”

Fell blinked, the lights in his sockets flickering once. “I mean… do you want to?”

She just nodded, pushing her king’s pawn forward two squares without a word.

---

How long had it been? she wondered, watching Fell counter with his knight. She developed her pieces with a muscle memory that felt alien, her moves confident but misguided, a reckless press into the center of the board. She left a knight completely undefended. Realizing the blunder, she just shrugged. When Fell hesitated, she waved her mechanical hand dismissively. “I’ve made my choice.” He took the piece.

Her own hand trembled as she reached for her queen.

“You alright over there?” the kitsune asked, her voice soft as velvet.

Tara didn’t answer, her gaze fixed on the board. Fell’s knight advanced, a predator closing in on her back line. She castled king-side, in a move of desperation.

Fell looked confused, the ghost-lights in his eyes brightening slightly. “Tara, you can take that back. I’ve got you in a triple fork. You just… ignored it.”

“You have to live with your mistakes,” she said, her eyes not leaving the board. “If I’ve learned anything this week, it’s that.”

Fell’s concern was a weight in the air. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She felt his gaze on her but refused to meet it, offering only a slight shrug. “Maybe later.” she said, as she watched him take her queen.

Tara’s play grew more erratic. She sacrificed a bishop and a rook for minor positional gains. Fell queen-side castled into a fortress. More of her pieces vanished from the board. When one of Fell’s rooks slid onto her back rank, she captured it with her own without a second thought.

She missed the next trap completely, pushing a pawn forward absently. She muttered a curse in quiet Cygni Standard.

Fell’s voice was a low growl. “Are you sure you want to leave your bishop hanging?”

Tara’s expression was unnervingly placid. “That’d be the second one down on my watch. So, yeah.”

The kitsune girl looked up from the board, her golden eyes meeting Tara’s for the first time.

Fell leaned forward, his brow furrowed. “Are you sure this is about the game, Tara?”

He took her last bishop, putting her in check. She gripped her king tightly, the plastic pressing against her trembling hand, and slid it wordlessly into the corner.

Fell slid his rook to challenge hers. A faint smile touched the corners of Tara’s eyes. She moved her king out, baiting the trap. Before her hand had even settled back on the table, Fell’s fingers were on his rook. He captured hers instantly. She just stared.

She knew it was over, taking his rook with her king in protest.

Fell smiled, his eyes dimmed as he slid the black queen forward. “Mate,” he said softly.

---

A peculiar calm washed over Tara. She tugged her mask down and drained the rest of her drink.

“That’s another win,” the kitsune murmured to Fell.

“Well,” Tara began, her voice even. “I kept going. Let’s see…” She began arranging her captured pieces in a neat line. Fell tilted his head, curious. “That’s me,” she said, tapping the white king. Her gaze locked on the pieces. “Here’s the botanist that was first to burn alive in my chamber,” she said, poking her queen. “The CMO and the Mystagogue who quit after I treated them badly,” she added, her fingertips brushing against the two lost bishops. Fell’s ears drooped, the light in his sockets shrinking to a faint ember.

“The two engineers who turned to dust in the crystal,” she continued, flicking the two knights with her thumb. The kitsune girl pulled her hood up, obscuring her face.

Fell was staring at her now, his head lowered. Tara took one last look at the board, her eyes resting on the piece that had sealed her fate — Fell’s black queen, looming over her defeated king. “That’s all I have left,” she said with a hollow smile. She glanced out the reinforced window at a shadekin sticking a luminescent snail to the glass. “The Black Queen… she’d like that-” she whispered to herself, eyes half closed, the image of an IPC with crimson eyes filling her mind.

Tara turned back to face them, her expression suddenly, jarringly cheerful. “So anyway, how’s your week been?”

The other two exchanged a look of bewilderment.

“Long,” Fell finally replied, his voice strained. He pushed himself up from the table, swaying slightly and placing a hand on its edge to steady himself. “My energy’s sapped. I think I’m going to… sleep for a bit.” The lights in his eyes flickered weakly as he gave a slow nod to them both before weaving his way through the crowded bar.

Tara moved into the seat he’d vacated, next to the kitsune. They sat in an awkward silence. “I didn’t catch your name,” Tara said, glancing at the purple-tinted suit the girl wore that matched her own, albeit tailored to accommodate three elegant tails.

“…Rin,” she replied quietly.

“Rin,” Tara repeated.

Rin seemed nervous. “…Just Rin.”

“Just Rin,” Tara nodded. “I’m…” She looked down at her hands, one of flesh and blood, the other a worn, scratched chrome. A flood of memories — not from the past week, but from a lifetime before, washed over her. She looked back up at Rin with glassy eyes, her expression vulnerable. “Nat.”

A soft smile graced Rin’s lips. “Well, nice to meet you Nat.”

It was nothing compared to the beam that shone back at her.

Game

This story is a retelling of an actual shift, where this chess game was played on the in-game board on Floof Station, aboard Train Sentipode.

Here is the chess.com analysis, and below is the raw PGN notation.

[Site "Train Sentipode NTED-NX-569"]
[Date "2525.10.14"]
[White "Tara Mason"]
[Black "Fell Gratia"]

1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 d5 5.Nxd5 Bg4 {Tara groans, mutters about hitting beginners traps.} 6.f3 Bb4+ {Tara scared by mailman} 7.c3 {Tara hesitates, but ultimately accepts, "I've made my choice"} Nxd5 8.fxg4 Qh4+ 9.g3 Qe7 10.a3 Bd6 11.Bxd5 Na5 12.Nf3 {Tara drinks more, eats banana} exd4 13.Qxd4 {Tara's hand shakes a lot at this move} Nb3 14.O-O {Fell offers a reversal due to him having her in a triple fork, Tara refuses, stating you have to live with your mistakes.} Nxd4 15.Nxd4 Qe5 16.Be3 O-O-O {Tara spins her hand around} 17.Bxf7 Rdf8 18.Ne6 {Tara smiles with her eyes} Rxf7 19.Rad1 Qxe6 {Tara grimaces} 20.Bd4 Rxf1+ {Tara shrugs} 21.Rxf1 Qxe4 22.c4 {Tara mutters in Cygni, Fell asks if she wants to leave her bishop hanging, Tara says 2nd one dead on her watch, Fell asks if she's sure this is about the game} Qxd4+ 23.Kh1 Rf8 {Tara eye smiles} 24.Kg2 {Fell hesitates long time, Tara wonders why, Fell doesn't understand the play} Bc5 25.b4 Rxf1 {Fell immediately makes this move before Tara's hand has even moved back, Tara stares} 26.Kxf1 {Fell smiles, "mate"} Qf2#

Chess Pieces

Want to know who the chess pieces represent?

Of course I do

• White Queen: Serenity
• Bishops: Twelve, Euphoria
• Knights: Lonesome, Aurelius
• Rooks: Aenus, Tide
• Black Queen: ...