[ WP ] A Sci-Fi Changing of the Guard Story

Evan was buried face-deep in a lovely pair of pillows when the sound of his father's voice shocked him out of his dream. Through bleary eyes, he could just barely make out his father's dark figure standing in the door frame. 
 
 `` Dad, what are you doing? What time is it?'' 
 
 `` I said it's your nameday, son.'' Evan muttered and lit up the display on his watch. 
 
 `` Yeah, well, we still have another 20 hours to celebrate. I'd like to spend at least another four of those in this bed.'' 
 
 `` This nameday is not like the others. It is not a time for indulgence and laziness. Now get up.'' His father's shadow disappeared from the door and Evan knew there would be no more discussion. With a groan which turned into an expansive yawn, Evan rolled out of bed onto the cold steel floor. The room lights kicked on automatically and his assistant's smooth voice crooned into his ear. The sound of her sent a shiver down his spine and for a moment he was back in his dream. Good thing his father had left; his parents did n't know he'd installed a mod in his assistant to replace the droll male's voice with that of a sexy older woman. 
 
 `` Good morning, Evan. I trust you were having a nice dream?'' Evan grunted. He could swear he heard a note of humor in that sultry tone of hers. 
 
 `` None of your business. Where are my clothes?'' Evan cast around for his jump suit. He was sure he left it sitting on his desk. 
 
 `` Your father has instructed me to tell you that you are to go at once to the den as naked as the day you were born.'' Evan arched an eyebrow. 
 
 `` Those were his exact words?'' 
 
 `` Yes.'' Evan heaved a sigh and with a growing sense of trepidation quickly removed his clothes and deposited them into the laundry chute to be cared for by the house. The lights dimmed behind him as he made for the den. Arriving shortly thereafter, he found his father standing in the dark in the middle of room with his back turned. 
 
 `` Evan, today is your twentieth nameday. It is time for you to inherit the legacy our family has maintained for centuries; a legacy that, until now, you have at best only been able to guess at. Come, stand before me.'' Goosebumps rose on Evan's skin. Family legacy? Maintained for centuries? This was new to him. Evan crossed the room to stand in front of his father, naked feet making quiet patting sounds on the burnished steel floors. 
 
 The room lights blazed to life and Evan squinted in the sudden brightness. His father's right hand gripped his shoulder and held his left hand out in a fist. Still half a head shorter than his father, Evan looked up to see pride in the old man's eyes. His father's fist rotated and opened, revealing a coin with a symbol he did n't recognize embossed on its face. It looked like a large eye built on top of a stone tower. 
 
 `` It is the tradition of this family that when a young man reaches his twentieth nameday he is inducted into the Order of the Watchers; a group dedicated to maintaining the safety of the Rings and all the living things that dwell within. By taking this coin, you have become one of us.'' His father grabbed Evan's right hand and pressed the coin into his palm. 
 
 `` Dad, I do n't understand.'' His father held up a hand. 
 
 `` All will be made clear in time.'' 
 
 `` Dad, stop fooling around. We run a family business in interplanetary shipping. What in the stars are you talking about?'' His father took a step back and looked Evan up and down. 
 
 `` No time to explain, son. Everything will be made clear in time. Assistant, you may now give Evan his nameday present.'' Evan shivered in spite of himself as the assistant whispered in his ear. 
 
 `` Happy nameday, Evan.'' 
 
 The steel panel between Evan and his father retracted and a pedestal carved from marble rose out of the floor. On top of the pedestal Evan saw a set of clothing neatly folded and sealed in vacuum-sealed packaging. Resting on top of the packages was a holster that contained what appeared to be an ornamental gun of sorts and a sheathe that held a six-inch ceremonial knife. As the pedestal continued to rise Evan's father began to speak again. 
 
 `` These are the vestments and the traditional tools of the Watcher, none of which are to be used in anger except in defense of the Rings.'' Evan's father lifted the gun and the knife from the pedestal and moved to stand beside Evan. 
 
 `` This knife is known as a *tlatch* and it has a blade that will never dull. Even still, you will sharpen always it to remind you that we must be of sharp mind and keen wit. The Watcher's best tool is his mind.'' Evan's father placed the knife into the same hand that held the coin. `` This pistol is a sidearm perfected by the Watchers over hundreds of years. Its aim is always true and it does not need to be maintained. Still, you will clean it always as a reminder that our role is not one of privilege, but one of responsibility. The power that comes with being a Watcher is not to be taken for granted.'' Evan's father stepped back and gestured to the vacuum-sealed clothing resting on the pedestal. 
 
 `` This is your uniform, which will be worn at all times from now on. It needs neither cleaning nor mending but you will wash it by hand to remind yourself that the greatest among us are also the most humble.'' Evan's father fell silent and he watched Evan for a long moment. 
 
 `` You came to me today as naked as the day you were born. I still remember that day as if it were yesterday. It is the proudest and happiest day of my life. However today is a close second. It pains me that I will not be here to guide you along the path of the Watcher, which is difficult and fraught with danger, but believe me when I say we will all be together again in the end.'' His father stood back and removed his night robe, casting it to the floor. Beneath the robe his father wore a body suit that clung to his athletic frame. The material shimmered as it caught the light in the room and reflected it in a spray of scintillating color that played across his father's muscled body. Strapped to his waist were the same knife and pistol Evan now held in his hands. 
 
 A look of pain mixed with sadness twisted his father's face as he rendered what appeared to be a salute of some kind to Evan. 
 
 `` Now I must go. Remember that though I am not with you, I will always be watching you. Assistant, you are authorized to begin Evan's Watcher training program immediately.'' Evan watched in stunned silence as his father turned sharply on his heel and walked smartly out of the den. He heard the locks on the house's front door open and close as his father was released into the darkness of the pre-dawn morning. 
 
 `` Assistant, what the hell just happened?''
