"That fool died long ago, Tinn."

LAWS OF ATTRACTION (2023)

c. Richard Siken

Txt Agere Series Part Two

🍼 Morning Aftermath - R!Kai R!Beomgyu

🌷 No tw

Summary: After Kai’s tough morning he and Beomgyu get to spend some time in their happy place where it’s warm and cuddly. Although Beomgyu usually causes the mischief, Kai is the one to get in a little bit of trouble.

ao3 link

Beomgyu was thrilled that their sudden work plans were canceled. He had already regressed on accident not too long ago and didn't want to pull himself out of headspace, but at the time he didn't have a choice. Now, he could find his favorite jammie's and put on his favorite show with his favorite stuffie in his arms. Alone in his room, he dug through his closet for his big lego's and animal figures. He was half dressed, forgetting he was in the process of changing when he started looking for his toys.

Beomgyu liked to regress by himself for a little while before joining whoever else was little. The secret introverted side of him showed more when he wasn't big Gyu. Yeonjun and Soobin made one rule for him, and that was to keep his door halfway open. It was a negotiable rule, since Beomgyu deserved to choose how much privacy he wanted, but he usually followed it. Sometimes he'd go to Yeonjun and Kai to tell them he was going to keep his door shut while regressing and agreed that they could check on him periodically.

This all came to be after Beomgyu developed a habit of falling into baby space all alone at night. With his door shut tight, no one could hear him whimpering or shuffling around his room looking for the things he needed. There was one incident where little Beomie was very sick, but big Beomie had said he was just going to rest and that he wanted to be left alone. No one knew that poor Beomgyu woke up in the mindset of a two or three year old after his quick nap. He couldn't get warm, got sick in his bed and struggled to speak up enough for anyone to hear him. That evening when Taehyun and Soobin found him curled up near his head board, trying to avoid the vomit on his sheets, they nearly called an ambulance from the state they found him. Pale, feverish and weak.

Beomgyu struggled to convey that he wasn't delirious from being sick, he was just so little and so sick at the same time. The moment he climbed into Soobin's arms he started to cry saying, "Needed Papa. Needed Papa but door." The next day when he felt a little better, the rule was put in place.

After obtaining the legos, Beomgyu wrestled himself into his pajama shirt that had a graphic of Bluey and Bingo on it. They were some of his favorite characters. He took his care bear stuffed animal, Bedtime Bear, and tucked it under his arm to hold while he played. He started to stack up his big legos into a unique castle sort of building, pretending it was a house for his bear.

"How's it going in here?" Soobin poked his head around the door with a smile. Beomgyu whipped his head around and giggled, bouncing up to give him a hug.

"Look!" Beomgyu chirped, pointing to his hard work.

Soobin awed at it, trying to ignore the mess Beomgyu had made everywhere else. It was impossible to avoid such a mess when little Gyu was around. He had trouble focusing on tasks and when something new peaked his interest, whatever he was doing before was simply abandoned. Yeonjun was prone to stepping on small toys and Taehyun liked to put things in his mouth to bite when he was little, so they tried their best to remind him to clean up before moving on. Luckily, most of the mess usually stayed in his room.

"You're so creative, Gyu! Can I join you?" Soobin asked cheerfully. Beomgyu grinned and nodded his head, plopping back down on the carpet.

"Can you make him a bed?" Beomgyu asked, referring to his bear with a pat on its head.

Soobin agreed and got to work. He listened to Beomgyu's cute hums and lip trills that reminded him of a little bird, as he constructed the bed. Beomgyu babbled on about how about how Bedtime Bear needed a bed because he was very sleepy and started to make a 2x2 tower in rainbow color order. He loved making patterns with his blocks when pretending got a little bit boring.

"Ta-da! Here's Bedtime Bears bed." Soobin announced, sliding the creation over.

"Yay!" Beomgyu cheered, instantly putting his bear in its new bed. Soobin ruffled his long hair and combed it back to normal with his fingers.

"I wanna see Taehyunnie and Kai." Beomgyu said, his eyes roaming around his room.

"Sure! I don't think Taehyun's regressed, though." Soobin responded, standing up and giving his hand to Gyu to pull him up as well.

"It's okay, I wanna paint pictures."

Soobin was hesitant towards Beomgyu's idea. Painting was a fun activity for all the boys when they felt small and always ended up in disaster. During the warmer days of the year they set up the paint and paper outside on their balcony. That way they could avoid splashes of color on the walls or furniture. But, today it wasn't warm. There was a bitter chill outside, accompanied with some wind. The shining the sun was deceptive in making it look like a nice day when it really wasn't.

"I'm not sure if we can paint today, honey." Soobin admitted softly. He had to fight off the urge to give into the puppy eyes Beomgyu immediately gave him.

"Whyyy." He whined, dramatically laying on the floor.

"It makes a big mess and it's too cold to go outside on the balcony." Soobin explained, hoisting Beomgyu up off the floor and holding him like a baby.

"But I'm good at it." The younger scowled. Soobin puffed out an amused laugh.

"You're right, you're our little artist! It's just, that we'll have to wait to do it another day."

That answer was good enough for Beomgyu for the time being. It wouldn't be fun for his paints to freeze. He let Soobin carry him out to the living room where Taehyun was talking to Yeonjun. They were discussing the lore about some video game.

"Hiiiii!" Beomgyu called out.

"Hi Beomie!" They responded with the same enthusiasm. Beomgyu slid out of Soobin's arms and pranced over to the two.

"Papa said no to painting. Wanna play checkers?"

"Sure! Get it all set up, baby." Yeonjun said, standing up to stretch.

"You're gonna lose!" Beomgyu taunted, dumping the game out on the floor and separating the black and red circles. The eldest joined him on the floor while Soobin sat on the sofa with Taehyun.

Alone in his room, Kai may or may not have been getting into a little bit of mischief. In the txt dorm long bouts of silence usually meant trouble. Most of the time it would be Beomgyu, not their sweet angel baby, Kai. The maknae had grown bored in his room and wanted to give one his stuffies a trip to the spa. It started out tame with a pretend manicure, but escalated into dunking one of his small Molang's in the nearly overflowing sink.

Huening Kai managed to sneak into one of their bathrooms and shut the door. He plugged up the sink and watched it fill up with soapy water. He also used up the last of Soobin's shampoo for the bubbles. It smelled really good, but he knew he couldn't eat it or else his tongue would taste all funny and gross. Kai then proceeded to dunk the poor little Molang into the sink, creating a huge splash that soaked his shirt. At first he had gasped and froze, expecting to hear someone calling his name to scold him, but he didn't, so he did it again.

Leaving Huening Kai unattended was Yeonjun's first mistake, the second was leaving out his expensive moisturizer. The product was the perfect face mask for Molang, but made Kai's hands feel sticky. He continued to massage different soaps onto Molang's body and dunking him in the water. It looked like a literal tsunami had rampaged the bathroom. His fun couldn't last forever, though.

Huening Kai gasped when door suddenly swung open and he met eyes with Yeonjun. His hyung's mouth was agape, as he took in the disaster. Kai squeaked and kept into the bath tub, swiftly pulling the curtain to hide himself.

"Oh my god...Kai!" Yeonjun exasperated. His voice traveled to the living room where the others were still playing games and caught Soobin's attention.

"That can't be good." Taehyun muttered, following closely behind Soobin. Beomgyu didn't really care, he got in trouble all the time. What's the big deal? He went back to sorting board game  pieces by color.

"What happened?" Soobin asked, popping into the door frame with Taehyun. He half expected to find out Kai had an accident or something.

Yeonjun had his back to them and held one of Kai's plushies that was dripping with water and suds. He sighed to release the frustration he didn't want to take out on Kai, who was still hiding. The floor around the sink had a huge puddle extending around the tiles and soaking into the bath mat. There were soap bottles and globs of lotion and conditioner littering the sink that was full of water.

"Yah! Huening Kai, come out from there." Yeonjun instructed. They heard one of Kai's limbs hit the side of the tub, followed by a whine and quiet 'no'.

"Don't make me count, Mister." He threatened, although it held no ill intent.

Taehyun rolled his eyes and pushed past Yeonjun to get to the tub. He pulled the curtain back to reach down and hoist Kai out, but paused when he saw him curled up in a tight ball. Their baby was always very sensitive and often didn't understand why some of his actions upset others. To him, playing with water was harmless. He even did it where water belonged!

"Soobin hyung, I think you should handle this one." Taehyun said, retreating back to the living room, tugging Yeonjun along with him.

"Baby, come talk to me. I won't yell." Soobin said calmly. He tiptoed over the puddle and sat down on the edge of the tub, reaching down the pet Kai's hair.

"What were you doing in here all alone?" He asked.

"Playin' with Momo..." Huening Kai muttered.

"Mhm." Soobin hummed. "There's quite a mess in here, I know Molang didn't do this on his own. You're going to help me clean up, okay?"

Kai realized that Soobin wasn't angry with him and hesitantly uncurled himself. He stepped out of the tub when Soobin turned around to grab a used towel off the rack.

"We'll use this one since it's already dirty. Clean up the water on the floor with it and I'll wipe down the sink." He explained gently, handing the fabric off.

Huening Kai kneeled and did his best to get the towel to cover the entire puddle. Then he patted at it with his palms while Soobin stepped over and around him, cleaning.

"Good job, baby." He complimented.

Once everything was dried up and the sink drained, Soobin helped Kai get into a new change of clothes and held him on his bed. He was glad his baby hadn't cried. Scolding them as they bawled their eyes out was the worst and made Soobin feel incredibly guilty since this was supposed to be something that helped the boys de-stress.

"I think cleaning up your mess was good enough discipline for now, but your Appa might not let you have dessert tonight. Do you understand why?" Soobin asked, running his hand through Kai's hair.

"Nuh uh." The maknae pouted.

"Well, you should only play with water during bath time, or when you're outside, or at a pool. The sink isn't big enough for all that splashing you like to do." He explained, lightly chuckling at the last part.

"It gets very messy very quickly and you could slip. We don't want you getting hurt. If you want to do something that makes a mess you need to ask us first, okay?"

"Mhm. Okay." Kai nodded against Soobin's chest.

"No one is mad at you. Not for this morning and not for your little impromptu spa day with Molang. We all make mistakes." Soobin concluded.

Huening Kai nuzzled his face against Soobin's shoulder and let out a content sigh, his eyes falling shut. He would have to wait a few more months for it to be warmer outside so he could play in water. Soobin sometimes wished they lived closer to the equator where it was always warm. He loved having water fights with the group under the bright sun, and his own personal little side liked to nap outside. Kai's uncharacteristic mischief made suddenly sense to Soobin. They had been cooped up inside to avoid the frigid air outside for so long it was no wonder the boys were getting a little stir crazy.

"I think we should visit that fun indoor playground with all the trampolines that we filmed to-do at. What'd you think?" Soobin thought aloud.

"Really?! No camera an' no game?" Kai asked excitedly.

"Really. Just us five running around having fun."

"That sounds good, Appa. Can Molang come?"

"Sure, why not." Soobin smiled, giving Kai a squeeze

-

Abduction - Chapter 27

Would you look at that? Got it posted on time! Thanks for the motivation everyone! especially @cyberstrikebeast​ - you don’t need to hunt me down, we good! :D I’m not sure if I’ll get another chapter out before the new year, I will for sure be writing in it since I’m taking time off work, but we’ll see how it goes!

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“For the sake of sanity, ”Simmo hissed, “would you hurry it up!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mike whispered back, “am I taking too long? Would you like to do this instead?”

Simmo sighed and clicked her mandibles faintly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Mike grumbled under his breath as he turned back to the task at hand.

The task was, to be honest, one that 7-year-old Mike would have absolutely loved. They needed to find where Jeb was being held. To do that, they needed a computer that could grant them access to confidential information. To get to a computer that had the right authorization, they needed to break into an information control room. The ship was currently in what Mike referred to as “night mode,” so the control room would be empty. However, that didn’t mean it was easy to get to. Hence the high security in the corridor.

And what a fun security system it was too! Obviously, it must seem impossibly daunting to most- otherwise, the Burnti would never have installed it, but to Mike, it was straight out of his childhood games where he’d imagine he was a secret agent and had to infiltrate the bad guys’ lair. There were lasers to avoid and everything. He could see them, dimly, but they were definitely there. When they’d arrived, he’d had to stop Simmo from walking right into them. She stayed behind as he carefully wove under, over, and around the beams of light, quietly humming the Mission Impossible theme song, much to Simmo’s annoyance.

Currently, he was standing in front of the gate that blocked the hall. He’d climbed up to where it looked like there was a locking mechanism. No luck there. He was stumped for a moment until he noticed the small colored pins inset along the wall. He picked at them, poked at them, twisted, pulled. It was clear they were mechanized. If he tried hard enough, they probably could be moved by hand.

“Do you know if there’s some sort of pattern or whatever for these pins? Like, do I need to match up the blues, or…” He trailed off. He forgot she wouldn’t be much help with this. Simmo, and apparently all Montauk are colorblind. Seeing in color was something only a handful of species could do, or at least, only a handful of species in the Galactic Confederation. Maybe more could see color in the Burnti Empire. That might explain why there’s some sort of color-coding something on this stupid gate.

It took a bit, but eventually, he was able to figure out how the pins were supposed to move when the locks were engaged or disengaged. Moving the first pin out was hard - they were so small! Thankfully, due to the fact that he hadn’t had access to any clippers or files, his nails had grown long enough to pick out the pins so he could work them along their grooves and out of the way. Once he moved a few, it became easier to move the rest.

He grabbed one of the horizontal bars and pulled. It budged, but just barely. He tried again. It rose maybe two inches. Dang, this was heavier than it looked. It didn’t help either that he didn’t have much room to lift - there were two lasers he had to avoid right behind him. Mike turned around and leaned against the gate, trying to figure out the best move.

“Don’t look at me,” Simmo grumbled. “Even if there weren’t all these light sensors, I wouldn’t be much help lifting that thing. Why do you think I brought you along?”

Mike turned back to the gate. “And here I thought it was for my winning personality,” he sighed. He widened his stance and carefully squatted down to the level of the bar he needed. He’d taken a weight-lifting class once in school. He’d been pretty good at it then, and he did his best to keep good form- not that he had much choice. One wrong move and he’d set off the sensors. He grabbed the bar, locked his elbows and lifted with his legs.

Oh boy. If they got out of this, he was going to hit the gym, get back in shape!

The gate lifted enough that he could shuffle his knee under it and give his arms a break. He lifted again and repeated with his shoulders. He carefully stepped over a beam of light on the other side to try to give himself a better stance as he lowered the gate back down. The angle was a bit awkward and it slipped halfway down and slammed loudly against the floor.

Both Mike and Simmo winced involuntarily. Simmo glanced down the hall they had come before turning back to glare at Mike.

He sighed and pretended to brush it off by continuing the rest of the way over the lasers. He was glad Simmo couldn’t see his hands or legs shake, or hear how fast his heart was beating. 

He was able to maneuver the rest of the way without incident. A little stumbling, and a lot of shaking, sure, but he made it.

He let himself take a bit of a breather at the other end, shaking his legs so they’d stop feeling like jelly. “Wow,” he muttered to himself. “Always wanted to do that. Always thought it’d be more fun. Life and death situations seem to suck the fun out of everything.”

He entered the code on the panel like Simmo showed him. The laser light show sensors turned off. Mike’s mind was starting to wander as he thought of what the differences there must be between his and Simmo’s - and whoever designed these things, eyes. Why could he see the beams that were supposed to be invisible? Was it with the cones or rods in the eyes? Was it because of how the brain processed the light? He didn’t get very far in thinking though. A loud clang nearly made him jump out of his skin. The gate was raising. That was the loudest gate he’d ever heard. Why did everything always so loud when you were trying to be quiet? After getting over his initial scare, he cringed as it continued its way up loudly. He really hoped no one else was nearby. They would get caught all because of a stupid gate that desperately needed some WD40. Or whatever the Burnti used.

Simmo quickly made her way over and entered the command to restart the security protocols. Mike wasn’t keen on the idea of having the dang gate move around again, but Simmo assured him it was necessary to maintain their cover while they were in the control room. Thankfully, the mechanism that moved the gate was a lot quieter going down than it was going up.

The control room itself was not exactly what Mike had been expecting. As soon as they opened the door, he anticipated seeing a few cramped desks or tables covered with computers and monitors, star maps, electrical displays, the works. Instead, it was a rather spacious room with large decorative tapestries with several inlets and nooks along the walls. In the middle of the room was an impressively large, round computer console. A few steps away was a set of shelves storing everything from datapads, books, what looked like scrolls, and cylinder can things of various sizes and colors.

“So,” Mike drew out the word as he walked in and looked around and up. This place had a vaulted ceiling? On a spaceship? Classy. “Is this like some sort of library, or…?”

“A what?” Simmo marched immediately towards the computer console. She opened up the holographic display and began entering information.

“You know, a library,” Mike circled the room, checking out the inlets and tapestries. “A place where people keep lots of books and movies and old magazines or whatever. You can read there, or study, or research things?”

Simmo didn’t answer. She was now moving through the readouts on the display and scrolling through what didn’t seem important. Mike ran a hand over one of the tapestries. It swayed with his touch. Behind it, there was a small nook tucked away. Nice. He grabbed the tapestry again to steady it. It was huge - it hung all the way from the ceiling to the floor, and it was beautiful. He wasn’t sure the shapes on it meant anything, they were a little abstract and there were symbols he couldn’t read, but it was beautiful nonetheless. He stared at it a while longer, admiring the handiwork and skill that had gone into its creation before walked back to where Simmo was still looking up where Jeb was being held.

“Any luck?”

“He was put in the brig two levels up from us and in the rear of the ship.”

“Okay. Great! That was fast,” Mike nodded and headed toward the door. “Let’s go get him, let’s… Simmo?”

Simmo didn’t move from her spot. Her antenna flicked slightly, but she kept searching the hologram.

“Uh, Simmo, we’re on a bit of a time crunch here, let’s get a move on.”

“And how do you plan on getting out of here without a ship?”

Mike stopped. “I thought we’re taking yours.” He paused for a moment, waiting for a response. Simmo just continued swiping and searching the computer. “Do you… not know where yours is?”

“It’s been missing for about a partec now. It was supposed to be moved to bay 9 after it was done with some repairs, but it never showed up. Rozar told me to not worry about it, that the repairs were probably just taking longer than expected. Thing is, he never checked into it further. Every time I try to do so myself, I never have clearance.”

Mike’s stomach dropped. That didn’t sound good. They had to find the Junk Lego, it had to be somewhere.

He stepped over to Simmo to help her look. He couldn’t really read many of the symbols on the display but moving felt like something he could do. He needed something to do, needed some way to help. Before he could get far, however, he heard the loud gate outside the corridor being raised again.

“Simmo, someone’s coming! We know where they’re keeping Jeb, let’s get out of here! We’ll figure out where your ship is later.”

But Simmo didn’t move from her spot. Files and reports continued coming up and she kept sifting through each one at incredible speed. Mike stepped closer to her, sizing up how best to grab her and pull her along in a way that wouldn’t end up with him getting cut up by her sharp hands. Suddenly, the screen froze. Mike glanced at the topmost file on display. He still couldn’t read it, and for several tense moments, Simmo couldn’t stop reading it.

“Simmo,” Mike ground out. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears and all this standing around business was beginning to feel torturous. They had to hide!

“My ship,” Simmo whispered without taking her eyes off the display. “It’s gone.”

The loud clanging noises of the gate stopped. Shoot. Mike looked back at Simmo. She must have heard it, even with the control room door being closed. She was still fixated on the screen.

“Simmo!” Mike hissed through his teeth. The voices were right outside the door now, muffled and talking quietly, but getting closer.

Mike slapped at the screen’s controls, shutting it down and all but tackled Simmo and dragged her behind the tapestry. Just in time too - the tapestry was still moving and swaying a bit when the door slid open. Thankfully, the new arrivals were too deep in their conversation to notice. Mike didn’t dare look around to see who it was, but he could swear he recognized the voice of one of the speakers.

“This is not what my people were told,” a silvery voice entered the room. “We’ve waited long enough. The Burnti aren’t the only ones with whom we can make deals.”

“We’ll have the truminium soon now that the Galactic Confederation out of our way.”

Mike shrunk back farther. He knew that second voice. Commander Rozar had one of those very distinct voices.

“That’s been partecs now. You’ve sure been taking your time since,” the silvery voice countered. “Having too much time with your galactic streamings about your little prizes, perhaps?”

Mike tentatively inched to the edge to get a look, being careful to not be seen. Sure enough, there was that grand, feathered sloth jerk himself, talking to an alien Mike had never seen before. She looked very catlike. Larger than a booka, but larger and with a much longer torso with thick spotted gray fur and long antenna-like whiskers all over her body. She was standing on her hind legs, or maybe standing was too generous a term. It was more like she was balancing on her back legs. It’s long, thick tail helped to keep her balanced.

Mike ducked back behind the tapestry. ”What ith that?” he lisped to try to avoid being overheard.

Simmo leaned over to peer around the corner. “Priso. They’re not with the Burnti. They’re from some coalition near the Green Mallak nebula.” “Ok. That doesthn’t help. I have no idea what any of that ith.” 

Simmo made some sort of gesture that Mike had to assume was Montauk sign language for ‘shut up.’ 

Rozar and the priso hadn’t yet noticed they weren’t alone. The priso had said something which caused Rozar to flatten the feathers at the back of his head cooly. “If you’re going to be keeping up with your delightful attitude, you can always spend another cycle or two in a cell.”

The priso shot him an icy glare. “Your diplomacy leaves much to be desired.”

“And what, do tell, are you going to do about it? Complain about me to your superiors? I’m sure they’d applaud the lengths I’ve gone to not outright strangle you.” The priso’s fur ruffled. “Is that a threat?”

“No,” Rozar said calmly, “a statement. Though I’m sure many of your superiors wouldn’t mind if it were. I’m surprised you don’t hear more of them.”

The priso’s ears went flat against her skull, the same with its whisker-like antenna. She bared her teeth and let out a low growl.

“Oh do calm down, Sitran my dear,” Rozar sighed. “That’s what got you in trouble before.” He turned to the computer console and pulled up the display. Mike tensed. He hoped that whatever Simmo had been looking at before wasn’t still there, or if it was, it wouldn’t tip Rozar off that something was wrong. Thankfully, the display had reset itself when they closed it down in their rush.

“Ah, here we are,” Rozar looks closely at the display before turning toward a set of shelves. Picking up a datapad, he activated the display and handed it to the angry priso. “Perhaps this will help allay some ill will. This datapad should include the pertinent communications we’ve had with Earth. Or at least with the governments that have been expressing an interest.”

Sitran took it and began scrolling through with a paw. Her ears came forward and the offended expression on her face melted away into a mix of curiosity and wonder. “These are just the ones that...” she continued to scroll. “How many governments does Earth have?!”

Rozar stepped back toward the main computer console chuckling lightly. “My understanding is that humans just wandered around their planet. When they got too far from each other, they started doing their own things, made their own cultures, formed new languages, and even their widespread appearances changed in some cases to adapt to new environments. In short, there are enough for everyone to share.”

Mike felt a mix of confusion, alarm, and anger. He wished he could just step out there and wipe that smug look right off Rozar’s face. Like he knew anything important about humans! What was that jerk planning?

Rozar,still very much unaware of Mike and Simmo’s presence, was very much enjoying showing off his human-related knowledge.

“There’s a file with everything you need near the top. Several files actually. I’d recommend reviewing the health and safety files thoroughly. There are things you wouldn’t think would pose a health hazard. You wouldn’t want to get something in your paw broken during a customary human hand greeting.”

Simmo leaned into Mike’s ear, “Please tell me that’s not a real thing.”

Mike turned back to her and thought for a moment. “Uh, handshake? I think he’s talking about handshake-th. That’th tho dumb. They don’t hurt”

Simmo didn’t look comforted in the slightest. 

The priso was still looking through the files, fascinated. Her wide eyes were darting across the screen. “I thought most of this was just rumor. Humans sure don’t mess around, do they?”

“Oh no. They certainly do,” Rozar corrected. “That’s part of the problem with working with them. But I imagine that if the Galactic Confederation has been successful at integrating them, then it’s obviously manageable. The rewards vastly outweigh the risks, as you can see in the next file.”

Simmo leaned into Mike’s ear again. “I want a copy of that datapad.”

Mike pushed her face away from his and peeked back out.

“You’ll want to read through the behavioral files as well,” Rozar had now moved over near Sitran and was pointing out the folder in question. “We’ve tried to log as much information as extensively as we can, but it’s very much an ongoing endeavor. Our own humans have been exceptionally-”

The door slid open again. Mike jumped back a bit out of habit to avoid detection. He didn’t really need to, the new arrivals, a pair of yellow guards immediately rushed in and saluted Rozar.

“Commander,” the shorter of the pair rushed, she sounded like she was out of breath, “We have apprehended a ship, sir.”

“The escaped prisoners?”

“No sir, a Galactic Confederation ship.” That got Rozar’s full attention. 

Rozar ignored a quirked look from Sitran. “Come again? A Galactic Confederation ship?”

“Yes sir, we were in pursuit of the escaped prisoners and they came out of nowhere sir. By the time we had them, the prisoners had gone to hyperspeed.” “A diversion perhaps?” Sitran mused.

“Quite possible. Two of the three missing prisoners were Confederation officers, I believe.” Rozar’s tail swayed dramatically from side to side, red and purple feathers brushed lightly on the floor. “They helped them get away and let themselves be captured. We’ll know for sure after we’ve interrogated them. And then we’ll make an example of them for the rest of the meddlesome Confederation fools.”

The guards suddenly looked rather sheepish. “Ah, yes, about that,” the second, taller guard started. Rozar snapped his head towards him, which only disconcerted the guard more. “Their ship is still in docking bay 4, but they themselves… aren’t.”

Rozar stared at the pair of them silently for what seemed like forever. Mike leaned out a bit more from behind the tapestry.

“They aren’t… what?” Rozar nearly spat.

The guards shifted uncomfortably. “They… aren’t on their ship anymore. Ah, a few moments after the air seal locks disengaged, three of them rushed the doors and were able to break through the ranks. They, ah, well they are now loose aboard the Arum Bloom, sir.”

Silence.

“They... broke the ranks?”

“Ah, yes… sir. The guards were not prepared for them to leave their ship like that, or leave willingly at all. Several have had to be taken to the infirmary. Two granims have serious concussions and are in critical condi-.”

“How many?”

“Uh, sir?”

“How many Galactic Confederation soldiers are now running amok on my ship?”

The first guard paused nervously. The second piped up, “From the reports we’ve received, there are three, sir.”

Rozar stepped away from the computer console and began pacing slowly, sharp claws clacking against his jaw. Mike slipped a bit back behind his hiding spot as Rozar walked by. The Burnti Fleet Commander had his eyes closed, sure, but he still felt dangerous. Mike could feel the anger and tension building up. He was pretty sure everyone in the room could. Even Simmo, who had barely moved from her hiding spot at all, scooted almost imperceptibly closer to Mike’s side.

“Three.” Rozar sighed deeply. “Three soldiers were able to ‘break your ranks,’ injure several guards, and avoid capture?” Rozar stopped in front of the guards, his feathers puffed out a bit as he arched his neck to look down at the guards. “Please illuminate to me how, by all that is bright and shining, three soldiers were able to, thus far, elude you all.”

Mike did not envy the guards’ position. He knew it was silly, they were Burnti- his captors- but part of him even felt a little bad for them.

One of them, the second one, managed to gather a bit more courage and straighten up. “Two of them were human sir.” 

Mike gasped. Simmo glowered at him.

No one must have heard, thankfully, because the guard continued, “We had scanned their ship as we brought them aboard, but something was interfering with the scan. Before we could completely set up for boarding protocols, two humans and a booka attacked and got away.”

“Well, Commander,” Sitran drawled out dramatically, “It seems you certainly are busy. I can make sure my superiors take this,” he closed the display of the datapad, “as a gift of good faith for the truminium trade, shall I?”

Rozar made a sound that was a mix between a grunt and a growl.

Sitran walked toward the door. The two guards hesitated, unsure if they should try to stop her or not.

“I’ll just see myself out then,” Sitran stepped around them and toward the door, calling back smugly, “Don’t worry, I remember where my ship is, unless of course it’s been moved or stolen in all the commotion lately.”

Mike ducked back to hiding as Rozar stormed by. He was definitely growling now. After a moment, he heard the blips and hums of the computer console as he pulled up the report readouts the guards had brought him. More reports were sent in as the search for the intruders went on.

Simmo quietly thunked her head against the wall. “They are never going to leave. We need to get out of here,” she hissed under her breath.

“There are humans,” Mike whispered back. “They’ve probably come to rescue us!”

“Two humans. Two humans came. Oh, and a booka. Great.” Simmo started to roll her eyes but stopped herself once she realized what she was doing. “Against everyone else aboard the Arum Bloom? They’re idiots for coming at all.”

Mike sighed and leaned to spy on what the other occupants in the room were doing, but before he could, Simmo grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

“Now look here you little monster,” her face was right in Mike’s again, “don’t you go getting any stupid ideas. We’re getting out of here as soon as we can. I agreed to take you, Wenona, and for some reason, Jebannuck, but I draw the line there. We are not risking our plans to save more humans on a doomed mission.”

Mike smiled. “Aw, Simmo, you said our plan. Like we’re a team,” he teased. Simmo hissed quietly and pushed him back. It’d been a soft push, sure, but as Mike stepped back from it, he tripped over his other foot and stumbled back, landing on his butt past the tapestry.

He froze. He felt like he could feel every. Single. Heartbeat.

Frewan.

He turned his head to the middle of the room. Maybe Rozar hadn’t seen. Maybe he’d had his back turned and didn’t notice.

Yeah, no such luck.

Rozar stared back at him, surprise coloring his wide golden eyes.

After a few tense heartbeats, the two guards finally snapped out of their shock and pulled their blasters, leveling them right at Mike. 

Before any of them could react further, the control room door opened again. A huge hairy mass raced towards Mike. Booming barks felt like they were shaking the entire room.

“No one shoot!” a familiar voice commanded. “Put your weapons down!”

Mike had his hands full of massive, hairy, very excited dog. By the time he was able to sit back up and wipe the slobber off his face, Wenona had disarmed the guards and was handing their weapons to Jebannuck. She kept her blaster pointed directly at Rozar, but carefully, her eyes wandered to where Mike was trying to settle down Carson.

“Oh, Mike,” her voice bounced cheerily, “I’m glad you’re still alive. Because I’m about ready to kill you.” She dropped the smile. “Where have you been?!”

“Uh,” Mike stood back up, “with Simmo.” He motioned for her to step out from behind the tapestry. She was hesitant, but as soon as Mike had acknowledged her, Carson started sniffing. Then growling. Mike stroked the dog’s head. “It’s ok boy, she’s a friend.” Which earned a simultaneous scoff from Simmo and a quiet “Well…” from Jebannuck.

Simmo cautiously took a step out from behind the tapestry. Carson sniffed eagerly at her while Mike held his collar.

“What is that thing?!”

“That’s Carson,” Mike scratched the dog’s ears. “He’s our unofficial pet until we can get him home to his real owners back on Earth.”

Simmo’s antenna were flat against her head and her mandibles clicked quietly, but she didn’t stop the canine and instead stood stiffly, waiting for it to be over. When Carson was done, he huffed loudly and stood resolutely between Simmo and Mike.

“Simmo,” Rozar’s voice broke the tense silence, “I assume I’m to hold you responsible for at least most of this mess.”

“Quite likely.”

Rozar looked like he was trying to kill Simmo just by glaring at her. He looked like he might say more, but Jebannuck spoke first. “Simmo, are you the one who opened the cells?”

Simmo tilted her head stiffly. “Yeah, whatever. You’re welcome.”

Jebannuck stared at her. “You opened the entire cell block. There were more than just prisoners in there. You almost got me killed.”

“If I’d known it was your cell block, believe me, I would have found another distraction.”

Mike waved them both down. “Okay, fine, it’s fine. I mean, now we don’t need to break Jebannuck out.” Simmo made a long grunting noise and looked away. Mike looked at her, but shook his head and chose to ignore whatever she meant by that. They were together now, and they had to act quickly. “Simmo, you said something earlier about your ship?”

Simmo looked to Rozar who gave the smallest hint of a grin.

“It’s gone.” Simmo clenched her sharp claws. Mike, Jeb, and Wenona glanced at each other. Simmo only had eyes for Rozar Silence. Finally, Wenona, still aiming a blaster at his chest, took a warning step closer.

Rozar sighed. “The parts were useful. Plus,” he sneered, “we didn’t want you getting any bright ideas. Apparently, I was right to be concerned.”

“So we steal another ship. We get out of here,” Wenona said matter-of-factly.

Jebannuck shook his head. “That may be impossible. They’ll have increased guard duty since the last prisoners did that.” “We can take them, we have the blasters.”

“We don’t need to.” Mike jumped in. “There’s a ship, a Galactic Confederation ship.” He nodded at Rozar. “I overheard them earlier.”

“Yeah,” Simmo scoffed, “with its crew now wandering somewhere on the ship.”

Rozar chuckled. Wenona readjusted her aim on him that had been slipping during the conversation. “So what will you do now? Will you steal their ship and save yourselves, or will you get yourselves captured by trying to find them?”

“Shut up, Rozar, no one asked you.” Wenona gave him her iconic glare.

“Shoot him,” Simmo growled. “We don’t need him overhearing our plans so he can stop us once we leave.”

“And give the Burnti a reason to go to war against the Galactic Confederation?” Jebannuck countered. “He’s not just some guard, he’s a fleet commander, and we wouldn’t be doing it in self-defense!”

Wenona sighed and looked back at Jeb. “We can’t just leave him either.”

Rozar used the momentary distraction and dove behind the computer console. Wenona shot a blast which barely missed him as he went, brushing over the feather tips of his tail. Carson barked wildly, pulling Mike who was still holding his collar with him a few steps before Mike could regain footing.

The entire control room erupted with noise and no small amount of panic. The guards, even without weapons, rushed them in order to protect their commander. Wenona swore and tried to move to get another shot at Rozar, but her limp slowed her down. Jeb was able to shoot one of the guards, but the other crashed into Wenona and both of them fell to the floor.

Carson was still barking wildly but was now trying to pull Mike along to defend Wenona. He let go of the dog’s collar and yelled to Jeb to throw him one of the spare blasters. The guard that had attacked Wenona screamed as Carson bit its arm.

A loud tonal beep blared from speakers that must have been installed in the walls or ceiling. Rozar’s voice echoed in the room, outside in the hall, and Mike assumed, everywhere in the ship, “This is Fleet Commander Rozar. Humans have escaped. Armed and dangerous. Kill on sight.”

Mike felt like a bucket of ice water had just been dumped on him. We need to go. We need to go! WE NEED TO GO! He wasn’t sure if he had yelled any of that as he rushed forward and pulled Carson off the alien guard who quickly scrambled away holding its arm tightly to try to stop the purple blood from where they’d been bitten.

Simmo picked up one of the dropped blasters and tried a few more shots towards the computer console at Rozar as Jeb helped Wenona to her feet. She stumbled and gasped in pain.

“For my ship!” Simmo roared as she blasted away at the console. “For my crew!” She rushed the side to get a better angle. Mike couldn’t see if she got him or not as he struggled to pull Carson towards the door. He wished he had some sort of leash to help guide the dog away from the now-cowering guard and toward the door. 

“Carson, come!” The dog grudgingly let Mike pull him along.

Jebannuck was trying to pick up Wenona who was almost bent over with pain.

“What’s wrong?” Mike yelled. “What happened?”

“No time, hold this,” Jeb handed him an extra blaster so he could lift Wenona over his shoulder, using his now free hand to hold her in place as he ran to the door. “Simmo,” he shouted back, “We’re leaving! NOW!”

The montauk was already at his side. She frowned as they headed for the door, “What’s wrong with her?”

Jebannuck didn’t answer immediately. He led the way down the corridor and paused at the next turn. “Did either of you happen to overhear where the Confederation ship is being held?”

Mike thought back for a moment, trying to remember. “Docking bay 4,” He turned to Simmo. “Do you know where that is?”

Simmo paused then nodded and took the lead down the corridor.

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BlackBerry Key2 review: Convenience is key Whoever thought physical keyboards would make their return to smartphones? I sure didn’t, but I’m glad they did. The BlackBerry KeyOne was one of the most unique and surprising phones of 2017. Its physical keyboard and industrial design got a lot of people interested — including myself. The BlackBerry Key2 proves a great successor to the KeyOne, with improved performance and a host of new features. I don’t plan on switching back to another phone any time soon. Here’s why. BlackBerry Key2 review notes: I’ve been using the BlackBerry Key2 on T-Mobile’s network in the U.S. for nine days. Our review unit is running Android 8.1 Oreo and software number ABA044 on the May 5, 2018 security patch. We’ll refrain from adding review scores until we can put the Key2 through our full suite of tests. The Key2 used in this review was provided to Android Authority by BlackBerry. Show More Design The BlackBerry Key2 is much classier than its predecessor. It actually reminds me a lot of a MacBook, with its silver frame and matte physical keyboard. That frame is made of series 7 aluminum, which wraps around the chassis and extends to the top of the display. The front-facing camera and earpiece now blend in a little more with the black border around the display, which looks more seamless than the giant silver “forehead” on the KeyOne. BlackBerry created a phone for people who value productivity over multimedia, uniqueness over monotony. I think they delivered in spades. Both David and I reviewed the silver model, though the phone also comes in a sleek all-black version. Related BlackBerry KEY2 vs BlackBerry KEYone: All the Key differences explained Considering how little choice there is when looking for a smartphone with physical keypad, the release of the BlackBerry KEY2 should be cheered for at least bringing a little more variety to the table. The … The left side of the phone is almost completely bare — housing only the microSD and SIM card slot. The volume keys, power button, and convenience key have all moved to the right side. BlackBerry made the power button textured this time around, so it’s easy to tell it from the other buttons without looking. The convenience key is back and smarter than ever. You can still program the physical button to launch any app or shortcut you’d like (I have mine set to launch Google Assistant), and you can assign up to three actions for it. It also supports three customizable profiles that change depending on where you are and what you’re doing. You can set the convenience key to open Google Play Music when you’re driving, launch the camera when you’re at home, or a voice recorder when you’re in a meeting. The phone will automatically switch between these different profiles when it senses you’re in those locations. Simply holding the Key2 feels better than the KeyOne. It’s lighter, slightly bigger (the KeyOne felt a little cramped), and the textured, grippy backplate makes the phone very easy to hold. The only downside to this design is the lack of a proper IP rating, which is pretty much standard on most phones nowadays. I’m sure having a physical keyboard doesn’t make it easy to waterproof, but it’s still a feature I would have liked to see. Display The display is the most average part of this phone. It’s the same 4.5-inch 1080p LCD we saw on the KeyOne, complete with the shorter, fatter 3:2 aspect ratio. Four and a half inches seems a little small by today’s standards, but I really haven’t had any problems with the size. If it were any bigger, it’d be hard to reach your thumb up to the top to pull down the notification shade. However, you can now re-route the currency key on the keyboard to show your notifications if you don’t want to reach up to the top. The 4.5-inch, 3:2 display is the perfect size for a physical keyboard. The display is good, but it’s no Samsung panel. It offers up decent viewing angles, and you can change the color profile to natural, boosted, or saturated, just like the Pixel 2. BlackBerry still uses an ambient display mode (not an always-on display), which only shows up if you receive a notification. I would have loved to see an always-on display here. My one qualm with the display was that it seemed a little too dim to me, at least when auto brightness is turned on. Fifty percent brightness on the Key2’s screen is really dim compared to any other phone I regularly use. It’s also hard to see when you’re outdoors in direct sunlight. Just be aware this isn’t nearly the brightest panel you’ll find on a smartphone. Performance Performance was the KeyOne’s biggest issue. Its low RAM and slower SoC meant opening media-heavy apps or multitasking was near impossible at times. I’m happy to say the Key2 fixes most of those performance issues. The updated processor — coupled with the bump in memory — makes a fluid software experience. The Key2 is powered by a Snapdragon 660 CPU — the same processor powering the Nokia 7 Plus — as well as 6GB of RAM. That updated processor, coupled with the bump up in memory makes for a fluid software experience. The Key2 can open applications like Instagram, Chrome, and YouTube without slowing down, and split-screen multitasking is even possible this time around. The phone lags a bit when opening Snapchat, but that’s not really the phone’s fault — Snapchat is still a garbage application. Graphics performance is much better this time around, too. The Key2 runs on the Adreno 512 GPU, making games like Asphalt and Lego Star Wars: TFA run quite smoothly. The Key2 isn’t as fast as the top-tier flagships of the Android ecosystem (you’ll still notice a little lag here and there), but it’s a huge step up from last year. Don’t miss: OnePlus 6 review | HTC U12 Plus review We ran the Key2 through AnTuTu and 3DMark to see how it performed against the BlackBerry KeyOne Black edition (the model with 4GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 625 SoC). You can see the results below: AnTuTu gave the Key2 a performance score of 142029 — quite a big bump up from the KeyOne Black edition’s 60761 score. As stated above, the Key2 can handle multitasking and media-heavy apps with ease, while the KeyOne Black edition struggled, even with its 4GB of RAM. Graphics performance is an even bigger step up. The Key2 received an overall score of 1368 in 3DMark, while the KeyOne Black edition came in at just 466. Playing games like Asphalt 8 on the Key2 is smooth and lag-free, while the KeyOne Black edition was choppy. Keyboard The Key2’s keyboard is much better than the KeyOne’s. The keyboard on last year’s phone was too small for my liking, had a glossy finish, and it was a bit mushy. BlackBerry pretty much fixed all of these things on the Key2. It has 20 percent larger keys (resulting in fewer typos), a nice matte finish BlackBerry says is more scratch resistant, and clickier buttons. In fact, the buttons are so clicky, they might be too loud for some people. I tried to respond to an email right when I woke up one morning, and felt like I was going to wake up my wife. You may want to pull up the software keyboard if you’re trying to type in a quiet space. This keyboard is terrific. It makes me not want to go back to a normal smartphone. All the wonderful keyboard features we talked about last year have returned. You can still swipe up, down, left, or right on the keyboard to scroll through apps and web pages. You can also program up to 52 shortcuts to the keyboard to launch your favorite applications. For instance, you can set a short press of the “p” key to launch your favorite podcast app, while a long-press can open up the Play Store. This is a feature I use dozens of times a day, and something I’ll miss if I switch to a phone without a keyboard. On the KeyOne, those shortcuts only worked on the BlackBerry Launcher’s home screen, which limited the feature’s functionality quite a bit. Now, BlackBerry’s new Speed Key makes this feature even more powerful. This keyboard key lets you use those 52 keyboard shortcuts from anywhere in the phone — whether you’re in an app, on the home screen, or even using a custom launcher. Holding the Speed Key — it’s the one with the dots on the bottom-right of the keyboard — and pressing your keyboard shortcut instantly opens up your pre-programmed shortcut, allowing you to switch between apps quickly and easily. At the risk of sounding overly hyped, it changed the way I use my phone. When I got this phone, I downloaded Instagram and needed to login. So, I typed out my email address, used the Speed Key to launch LastPass, copied my password, then double-tapped the recent apps key to jump back into Instagram without ever having to go to my home screen or app drawer. It just makes things so much easier. Hardware BlackBerry increased the storage from 32 to 64GB this time, and global versions of the Key2 (not in the U.S.) will have up to 128GB of onboard storage. No matter which model you choose, you’ll be able to take advantage of the microSD card slot for up to 2TB of additional storage. On the audio front, the Key2 appears to have two bottom-firing speaker grills, but only the right one is actually a speaker. Audio quality is okay, but I wish it was a little louder. Listening to a podcast while washing the dishes is a little too quiet for me, but it’s usually decent for playing YouTube videos or listening to music. Turning the volume up all the way doesn’t distort music, though it lacks bass — especially compared to audio-centric devices like the HTC U12 Plus or LG G7. Also, like the KeyOne, audio creeps out of the physical keyboard on the front of the phone. Even if you cover up the speaker grill at the bottom, you’ll still hear audio coming out of the device. Yes, there’s also a headphone jack. I haven’t experienced any call quality issues during my testing, though David ran into a few issues with the proximity sensor while on the phone. We had a 45-minute chat one day, during which he muted himself by accident multiple times. The Key2 had a difficult time recognizing when his face was up to the screen, which resulted in his cheek pressing the in-call mute button. Haptics are much better on the Key2 than they were on the KeyOne. The Key2 has a much more powerful vibration and gives off stronger physical feedback than its predecessor. Some people might not like a strong haptic motor, but I prefer it. In terms of biometrics, the BlackBerry Key2 still employs a fingerprint sensor in the space bar of the keyboard. This is a wonderful place for the fingerprint sensor, though I’m still partial to rear-facing fingerprint scanners (and so are most of you, it seems). Also, there’s no facial recognition here. Battery The BlackBerry Key2 is one of the longest-lasting smartphones I’ve ever used. Thanks to its 1080p screen and Snapdragon 660 SoC, the Key2’s 3,500mAh battery allows this phone to easily last more than one day on a single charge. I worked this phone pretty hard this week and have yet to kill its battery in a single day — I usually go to bed with around 40 percent battery left over. With moderate use, the Key2 will easily last two full days on a charge. That’s insane. Between David and I, we’ve been averaging about five to seven hours of screen-on time. You don’t get any form of wireless charging here, but there is Quick Charge 3.0 support. Plus, every time you plug in your phone, BlackBerry lets you choose between Charge Only and Boost Modes. Charge Only mode does exactly what you’d think; it charges the phone like normal. Boost Mode turns off some of the background processes and animations, which makes the phone use less power while it’s charging. This is a handy feature to use if you only have a few minutes to charge your phone before heading out of the house. Camera I don’t think many people expected BlackBerry to release the world’s best smartphone camera, and the KeyOne’s shooter certainly left much to be desired. The Key2 is a step in the right direction. On the back, the new BlackBerry houses two 12MP sensors — one with a ƒ/1.8 aperture and 1.28μm pixels, the other with a ƒ/2.6 aperture and 1μm pixels, both with phase detect autofocus (PDAF). BlackBerry isn’t using the second sensor for anything fancy like wide-angle shots; it’s just there to provide 2x optical zoom and portrait mode shots. Note: The camera samples in this review are resized. You can see all the full-res images at this Google Drive link. Most of the time you’ll rely on the main 12MP sensor for your photos. Photos taken in well-lit conditions are sharp and detailed, though a lot of the time they’re too saturated. Look at the comparison below with the Pixel 2. The Pixel’s photo has much more true-to-life colors, while the Key2’s photo is almost too bright and rich in color to look accurate at all. That’s not how the plant looked in real life. Google Pixel 2 BlackBerry Key2 That’s not to say all photos turned out this way — I was surprised every so often when the Key2 got things right. It’s not at the level of the Pixel 2 or Galaxy S9, but I think it’s more capable than the KeyOne’s camera. Low-light shots are hit or miss, but mostly a miss. It’s where the Key2’s camera struggles the most, likely due to the lack of OIS on both lenses. There is EIS on board, though it’s no be-all-end-all substitute for optical stabilization. About 85 percent of the time, photos taken in low-light conditions are noisy and grainy. I wouldn’t rely on the Key2’s camera if you frequently take pictures at bars or other dimly lit areas. It just won’t give you the results you want. I was literally just about to put together a set of clips to show off the EIS on the #BlackBerryKEY2 for the review, when @googlephotos sent me a notification that it did it for me. Probably saved me 30 minutes of work. Thanks Google! pic.twitter.com/59V1vNacAm — David Imel (@DurvidImel) June 26, 2018 The rear sensors can shoot up to 4K video at 30fps, though I’ve been satisfied with using the default 1080p, 30fps setting. When you’re standing still, the Key2 can produce some impressive videos. Walking and shooting at the same time results in some very shaky footage. Again, these cameras would benefit greatly with optical image stabilization. Like every other phone out there, the BlackBerry Key2 can take portrait mode shots thanks to its dual-camera setup. You can’t edit the amount of blur before or after you take a shot like you can on other phones. Portrait mode shots are actually quite good, though. The Key2’s edge detection doesn’t get fooled as often as some other phones. Just make sure your subject is well-lit — portrait shots are hit-or-miss if there’s not enough light in the frame. With the press of a button, you can switch from taking photos with the primary lens to the secondary one for 2x optical zoom shots. You can go even further with 4x digital zoom, too. On the front, the Key2 has an 8MP fixed-focus sensor with a ƒ/2.0 aperture and 1.12μm pixels. You can take some pretty good selfies with the Key2. Photos generally come out more natural looking than some other devices. BlackBerry Key2 camera samples Software The Key2’s software isn’t so different from the KeyOne. The stock BlackBerry Launcher looks about the same as it did last year, which feels a bit dated. It still ships with the Marshmallow-style app drawer button in the dock, as well as the paginated all apps screen that separates apps, widgets, and shortcuts. BlackBerry’s software is still one of the most customizable versions of Android I’ve ever used. Pop-up widgets (aka Action Launcher’s Shutters) are back, allowing you to swipe up on an app icon to quickly access an app’s widget. You can also customize app name appearances on your home screen, switch between light and dark themes, and change your icon pack. The Key2 runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box, and BlackBerry says it’ll receive an update to Android P at a later date — I’m not holding my breath. BlackBerry also said the KeyOne will be updated to Oreo, but that still hasn’t happened, even 10 months after Android 8 has been out. Privacy takes center stage with fingerprint-locked photography and a Privacy Shade. Looking past BlackBerry’s update history, the company included a handful of useful new privacy apps. My favorite new app is called Private Locker. This is a fingerprint-protected app that lets you hide things you normally wouldn’t want to appear in the main parts of your phone. Most people will probably use this to hide their naughty photos, but you can also store sensitive files and browse privately with the Firefox Focus browser, all within the Private Locker app. You can even hide apps in the Private Locker so they don’t appear in your app drawer. I think the coolest thing about this feature is in the camera app. If you’re taking a picture of (ahem) sensitive materials, you can touch the fingerprint sensor to take a photo. This sends the photo right to the Private Locker, and it never touches your gallery app. Pretty neat. Privacy Shade There’s a new Privacy Shade feature too, which keeps the content on your screen hidden from prying eyes. Pulling down from the notification shade with three fingers will essentially black out all content on your screen except for a single area that you can control. This is handy if you need to read sensitive documents in public, for instance. The Privacy Shade also has a Redactor tool that lets you black out certain sections of the screen before you share screenshots with other people. All of BlackBerry’s other apps have returned on the Key2. The Productivity Tab still resides on the right side of the device, giving you quick access to upcoming calendar events, tasks, new messages, and more. The DTEK security suite will still monitor your device to make sure it’s as secure as can be. This time around, DTEK will monitor apps’ foreground and background access and tell you when applications are running. Of course, everyone’s favorite BlackBerry Hub is here too. This app curates all your messages — email, text, app notification, and more — into one easy-to-use timeline. It’s still a bit of a battery drainer, but I’d say it’s worth giving a try if you own a BlackBerry. It’s just too convenient to pass up. Overall, I really like BlackBerry’s software approach. The company is keeping things as bare as can be, only throwing in a few apps and services where it needs to. This is similar to OnePlus’ and HTC’s software strategy, though BlackBerry tends to focus on privacy and security. If you’re looking for a phone that’s private and secure, the Key2 might be one of your best options. Specs BlackBerry KEY2 Display 4.5-inch IPS LCD 1,620 x 1,080 resolution 434ppi 3:2 aspect ratio Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Keyboard Touch-enabled 35 key backlit physical QWERTY keyboard Integrated fingerprint sensor SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 2.2 + 1.8GHz, 64-bit Kryo 260 octa-core GPU Adreno 512 RAM 6GB Storage 64GB (U.S.) 128GB (Global) microSD expansion up to 256GB Cameras Rear: Main: 12MP sensor with an ƒ/1.8 aperture and 1.28μm pixels, dual phase detect autofocus Second: 12MP sensor with an ƒ/2.6 aperture and 1μm pixels, phase detect auto focus HDR, 4K video recording at 30fps Front: 8MP fixed-focus sensor with an ƒ/2.0 aperture and 1.12μm pixels 1080p video recording at 30fps Audio 3.5mm headphone jack HD audio for improved audio playback Optimized deal microphone placement for active noise cancellation Battery 3,500mAh Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 IP rating N/A Sensors GPS/A-GPS Fingerprint Accelerometer Magnetometer Gyroscope Proximity Ambient light Network BBF100-1 — EU, Africa, AU, Japan FDD-LTE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 26, 28, 32 TD-LTE 38, 39, 40, 41 BBF100-2 — Canada, US, LATAM FDD-LTE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 20, 28, 29, 30, 66 TD-LTE 38, 39, 40, 41 BBF100-4 — China FDD-LTE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 26, 28 TD-LTE 34, 38, 39, 40, 41 CDMA: BC0 BBF100-6 (Dual-SIM version) — ME, APAC, India, Indo FDD-LTE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 26, 28, 32 TD-LTE 38, 39, 40, 41 All variants: HSPA+ 1,2,4,5/6,8 Quad Band GSM/GPRS/Edge Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n for 2.4GHz, 802.11 a/n and a/c for 5GHz 4G mobile hotspot, Wi-Fi direct Bluetooth 5.0 LE USB Type-C (USB 3.0) USB OTG, NFC, FM radio, support DP through Type-C port Software Android 8.1 Oreo Dimensions 151.4 x 71.8 x 8.5mm Colors black, silver Gallery Pricing, availability, and final thoughts You’ll be able to pre-order the BlackBerry Key2 on June 29 for $649.99, with the phone’s official launch slated for July 13. No carrier partners have been announced, though you will be able to pre-order it from Amazon and Best Buy. $650 is a lot of money for a smartphone, especially considering that the OnePlus 6 is available for more than $100 less. BlackBerry isn’t really marketing the Key2 towards the same consumers as OnePlus, though. Every phone looks the same in 2018. The LG G7 looks like the OnePlus 6, the OnePlus 6 looks like the Huawei P20, and all of these phones look like the iPhone X. The BlackBerry Key2 doesn’t look like any other phone on the market. That’s huge. If you’re looking for something unique that stands out, the Key2 should be at the top of your list. The Key2 is a worthy successor to the KeyOne, delivering slick performance, fluid software, and useful productivity features. Of course, you should know what you’re getting yourself into. This won’t be a phone for VR fans. It’s not powered by a blazing-fast processor. Gaming on a 4.5-inch screen doesn’t exactly provide a stellar user experience, nor does watching wide-screen video. BlackBerry set out to create a phone for people who value productivity over multimedia, and uniqueness over monotony. I think it delivered in spades. , via Android Authority http://bit.ly/2M3BlYx