Kindness
Hiloria sat near one wall of the small private room. Kriso stood by the door, his face hidden under the hood of his formal robe. Hiloria did not move, did not make any noise as Sofia moaned softly and writhed a little bit on the bed she had been deposited on after her bath. She looked much better clean. It had been nearly impossible to tell that her skin was a dark brown tint under all the grime.
She could feel the girl's confusion as she woke up completely and found herself in a completely unexpected situation. She was expecting a prison cell or at least somewhere with guards. Instead, the room she lay in had colorful murals on the wall, most portraying the Elders gifts to humanity and Advent. The bed she lay on was a medical bed, set up to keep her vitals within regular limits. It was not as comfortable as a regular bed, but it also had no visible restraints. There were various means built into the bed to keep patients calm and/or still, but none had been activated. The white gown she wore covered her from neck to knees and the sheet that lay over her was both colorful and warm. The medics had been forced to shave her head to get rid of her horribly matted and filthy brown hair, but her bare head was covered by a hand-knitted cap. Amadri was very good at such things.
What Sofia wasn't going to see was the transparent piece of plastic stuck to the base of her skull. The small patch covered a metered drug dispenser that would slowly allow a calming agent into Sofia's bloodstream. She would be upset, everyone knew that. No one wanted her to get hostile, to hurt herself or anyone else. The only other thing she wore was a medical bracelet around her upper left arm.
Hiloria could feel the girl's incredulity mixed with a healthy dose of fear. She reached out with her mind and gave the girl's mind a tap. A polite greeting between telepaths. The girl gasped but did not freak out, so that was a start.
"Good morning, Sofia." Hiloria said quietly. "I apologize for being rude to you before. You were hostile. You had cause. I did not understand what had happened. Now I do and I am so very sorry."
"You. You are the one who… You are not human." Sofia curled up into a ball, her eyes the only things peeking up from under the sheet. Hiloria shook her head. "What do you want?"
"You said that our help killed people and in some ways, that is true." Hiloria chose her words with care. She wasn't sure how powerful Sofia was, but the other could likely sense blatant falsehoods. Most psis could. "Sofia, the world that we live in is one of conflict. Humans fight each other and Advent. I was ordered to bring the man that was with you in for questioning as well as any companions."
She could not have missed the spike of pure rage that tore from Sofia if she had been mind-blind.
"He..." Sofia seemed to wilt.
"I know what he and his wife did to you, Sofia." Hiloria said as gently as she could. "I am so very sorry." She repeated. "I do not like humans. I have dealt with so many who were less than good, but what he did… What his wife did to you… You are not my enemy, child. You never were."
"They hurt me." Sofia was crying now. Kriso nodded to Hiloria who rose and stepped to Sofia's bedside. "They put things in me. I..." She gasped as Hiloria sat down on the bed beside her. "No, please!" She begged.
"This will not hurt you." Hiloria promised as she took Sofia's hands in her own and poured healing energy into the girl. Sofia's eyes bulged as the energy flared around her, but then she gave a small moan and relaxed as the few aches she had been feeling vanished. Hiloria smiled at her. "There. Better?"
"Yes." Sofia perked up a little. "What did you do?"
"I encouraged your cells to heal faster than they normally would. Our power, the power I have and you share, comes from the mind. It allows for a lot of things, Sofia." Hiloria said quietly, not moving as the girl stared from Hiloria's face to her hands and back. "Things both good and bad are possible with this power. If you wish, you can learn how to use it for the betterment of all. But that is for the future. Right now? You need to heal. Your body has been repaired, but your mind is still hurt. So many hurts, so many shocks. You need help and we are offering."
"Your kind kill my kind." Sofia said slowly, her eyes hooding.
"When we have no choice, yes, we do." Hiloria said quietly. "It is regrettable, but there are many of your people who cannot seek any reasonable solution and must resort to violence. Here and now, we have a choice and we refuse to act precipitously. You are safe here, child. This is an Enlightenment Center, not a prison. We will not lock you up."
"But I cannot leave, can I?" Sofia asked, her face now a mask. Hiloria looked at Kriso, who slowly moved away from the door and dropped his hood. Sofia stared from Hiloria to the male and back, her eyes wide.
"If you truly wish to leave, we will not stop you. There is too much conflict in this world as it is." Hiloria said gently. "We do not wish that to cause you further harm. But, Sofia, child… You are still hurt. You are a sentient being. One who was abused in a horrific fashion. We want to help you, child. Please let us help you."
"You can't." Sofia laid her hands over her abdomen. "I know what she did to me. She… she gloated about it."
"She is dead, Sofia." Hiloria kept her voice low and soothing. It did not come naturally. "I did not understand why you did what you did, but now I do. I do not blame you for being angry. I am angry and it did not happen to me. Let us try to help you. We may surprise you."
"Let me go." Sofia said in a monotone. "I have to go." She gasped as Hiloria laid a hand on her brow and then she slumped, her eyes rolling back into her head. Hiloria laid her down gently and made sure her limbs were straight.
"Even wiping her short term memory, sooner or later, she will realize she cannot leave." Kriso warned. "When she does, she will not be happy."
"Technically… She can." Hiloria shook her head. "She is not a prisoner. She is a guest and a patient. Not today because she is far too weak to walk more than few steps, but she can. If she does, I have to go with her since I took responsibility."
"She will not see it that way, especially if you keep knocking her out." Kriso was more wary than upset. "She is not reacting as other human children I have dealt with did. It may be the traumas she endured. It may not be. There is something oddly familiar about her, but I am not sure what it is." Hiloria looked at her old mentor and he shook his head. "I need to think on this. Will you stay with her?"
"We need to undo the conditioning." Hiloria was not looking forward to this, but there was something about this girl. The vulnerability? The fear? No. It was something else that called to the non-human psi. "That will not be fun, but Amadri did tell me what to do."
"You need to let her proceed at her own pace and do it herself." Kriso nodded approval as Hiloria resumed her seat. "I will step out for this part. I will be right outside if you need me." Hiloria smiled and nodded. Kriso stepped out and the female psi reached out to Sofia's mind, touching it gently.
"Sofia? Sofia, wake up." Hiloria said quietly. The girl jerked awake with a cry of alarm and Hiloria nodded to her, keeping her voice calm and level. "You are safe. Did you dream?"
"I fell asleep." Shame sounded in the girl's voice, but Hiloria worked hard so there was no censure in hers.
"You are weak and sick from the horrors that were done to you. There is no shame in that." Hiloria moved to the bedside. "We let you sleep. You needed it."
She carefully did not say how long they had let her sleep. In her befuddled state, Sofia was not going to realize that it had been less than ten minutes. They needed to break the programming that had been done to her gently while at the same time, instilling certain other programming that would eventually allow Sofia to realize her true potential. Delicate work, but Hiloria was not a novice.
"I..." Sofia stammered a little and then shook her head. "Did you tell me your name? I don't remember." She flushed in embarrassment.
"I think you have valid cause for lapses of memory." Hiloria chuckled at Sofia's expression. "You may call me Sister Hiloria." She smiled as Sofia mouthed the syllables of the non-human name. "We are not going to yell at you for forgetting such things." She went still as Sofia squirmed. "Sofia? Are you all right?"
"I… No." Sofia said weakly. She patted her waist and blanched. "My diaper. You took off my diaper! I cannot..."
"They wanted you helpless. You are not." Hiloria said with a growl that was not directed at Sofia. The girl seemed to understand that. "Do you need the facilities?"
"Yes." Sofia pleaded. Hiloria rose and moved to the bed, holding out her hand to the girl who was blushing. Sofia let the hybrid pull her from the bed and to her feet where she stood on unsteady legs.
"The bathing facilities are two doors down." Hiloria led Sofia to the door despite the girls reluctance. "They are separate for males and females. You are in no danger here."
"I want to believe you." Sofia said sadly. "But I cannot."
"Trust must be earned." Hiloria said with a smile as the door opened and Kriso stepped from the wall to eye them. "This is Brother Kriso, my teacher and a specialist in psychology. He has agreed to help you. Kriso, she needs the facilities."
"They wanted her to be a helpless animal." Kriso said with a nod to Sofia. "She isn't one."
"I feel so weak and weird." Sofia said with a tiny cry as Hiloria led her to a door marked 'bath'.
"They hurt you and drugged you." Kriso matched pace with the pair of females. "But you are stronger than that. You can get better if you want to." He smiled at Sofia's dazed look and nodded as Hiloria opened the door. "I am outside if you need anything."
"You better stay out of the female facilities or Sister Amadri will have you cleaning the cellars again." Hiloria said with a smile.
Sofia surprised her with a laugh, and Hiloria nodded to her as she led the girl to a commode that had been set up for humans as well as hybrids. They occasionally had a few Advent humans as guests so it made sense for them to have facilities. It wasn't like humans could use facilities geared for Mutons. She barely glanced at the shower stalls and bath tubs that were laid out in orderly rows.
"A story there?" Sofia gasped as Hiloria led her to a seat and helped her sit. She carefully did not help Sofia with her gown. The girl had to do things herself or she would never be able to break the programming and they would be forced to take more drastic measures.
"We were all young once." Hiloria said with a smile. "From what I heard, it was curiosity, not anything worse. She was not amused."
"I bet." Sofia was gasping again and squirming, but nothing was happening. "I… I can't! What is wrong with me?" She begged.
"They conditioned you to use the diaper and only the diaper. They used drugs and negative feedback. Hurting you." Hiloria said with a scowl. "You do not need it, Sofia. You do not. You know it. I know it. You just need to focus."
"It hurts!" Sofia pleaded as Hiloria took her hands and held them.
"I know, but your body knows what to do." Hiloria said gently. "Trust it, Sofia. Let go. Relax. You know what to do. You are not helpless no matter what they wanted to make of you."
She did not push with her mind. Sofia had to do this herself or nothing anyone did could touch the programming that had been done. Sofia cried out in pain and then she gasped as watery plops sounded along with a hiss of fluid.
"I..." Sofia was obviously fighting not to cry as Hiloria held her hands. "I.."
"See?" Hiloria said gently. "You do not need it. You are in control of your body. Not them. You needed to do that, to prove to yourself that you are in control."
"Why are you doing this?" Sofia asked weakly as Hiloria let go and reached for a disposable towel nearby. "This is… Advent does not help humans."
"It is supposed to. It just has a great deal of difficulty reaching out past the city centers." Hiloria said with sigh. "Thing is, a lot of humans react with violence when they feel threatened. The Elders conquered this world, Sofia. That is fact and nothing can change that."
"Are you sure?" Sofia asked in an odd tone. Hiloria looked at her and Sofia shook her head. "I mean, this power that you have and you say I have… What can it do?"
"Any power has limits, Sofia." Hiloria frowned. "The past is past and cannot be changed." She handed the towel to Sofia who stared at it. "Go on, clean yourself. You do not want to lie in your filth, do you?"
"I did." Sofia said weakly, staring at the towel. Then she was crying.
"Oh, Sofia." Hiloria pulled the girl up and held her as she cried. "I do not like humans, but I want to help you."
"I don't like humans either." Sofia bawled in Hiloria's arms. She never noticed the hybrid psi strengthening her feelings of being comforted with a deft pulse of energy. The girl would likely never realize how deftly Hiloria was altering her feelings from hate to love. Given time, the girl would feel nothing but comfort and love when she looked at Hiloria. Much gentler than drugs or other means of programming.
"Sofia, you are human." Hiloria said sternly. "I am half human. That said, we are not going to hurt you. We are not going to toss you out to fend for yourself half-healed. If you want to leave, you can, but I took responsibility for you." Sofia hiccuped a little and stared at the non-human psi. "That means I have to stay with you, which I would do anyway because I find I want to help you. I may not always be nice. You may hate me at times. You may curse me or scream at me, or whatever. But I will help you."
"Why?" Sofia begged.
"Because I see a potential in you that few have." Hiloria said as gently as she could. "You have a gift that is very rare even among my kind. You are hurt and sick, but my masters have allowed me to try and teach you our ways." Sofia's eyes went huge, but she did not recoil, which was a good thing. "This is a chance that very few get. My path is not one that can be forced on someone, Sofia. It has to be your choice. Not mine."
"Choice?" Sofia slumped. "What choice? I live or I die."
"Even if you choose not to follow our Way, we are not going to hurt or kill you." Hiloria said sternly. "We may have to keep tabs on you a bit closer than most, but we are not going to lock you up simply because you might be a problem in the future." She sighed deeply. "Stand still."
"Wha-?" Sofia gave a squeak as the towel in her hand was suddenly jerked out of her hand by an unseen force. She gave another, louder squeak as it dove under her gown and the sound of scrubbing came. She stood as if frozen and Hiloria smiled at her as the towel flew from under her gown to a recycling bin where it fell in, the lid closing after it. "You..." She stammered.
"You are not a prisoner to those horrible humans anymore. You are weak, sick and your mind is fuzzy. I will take care of you until you can take care of yourself. It is your choice what you do after, not mine." Hiloria stepped back and took Sofia's hands in her own. "You are a guest and a potential student. The room you woke up in is yours for the duration of your stay and you can come back here as often as you wish to bathe. I don't doubt that you feel dirty after all of that. Bathing can help."
Sofia stared at the hybrid and then at the bathing room, her eyes almost as wide as Hiloria's. "But..."
"No 'buts'." Hiloria started for the door, waving for Sofia to follow. The girl did, her posture meek, scared almost. "Your body is sound, if weak currently. Your mind needs time to recover from the shocks. We have options that we can explore to help you. Some are good, some are bad, some are in between. We have many questions for you, but we are not going to be rough about asking them. We have time. You have time. You need that time to heal."
Sofia was crying harder as Hiloria took her hands again and then she collapsed, her meager stores of energy depleted. Hiloria hefted her easily and carried her despite her squeak of protest. The hybrid carried Sofia into the hall where Kriso laid a hand on her forehead. The girl fell asleep instantly and Kriso nodded.
"That is as much as we can do today." Kriso followed as Hiloria started off back to the girl's quarters. "We cannot push her too hard, but that was well done, Hiloria."
"I do not feel the same way about her as I feel about other humans." Hiloria mused as they entered the room and Kriso helped her lay Sofia out on the bed. "Is that normal?"
"I do not know." Kriso admitted. "For now? She needs at least eight hours of real sleep before we can do any more alterations. She broke the humans' crude programming, so she has a powerful mind even untrained. If we wish to train her at all instead of wiping her mind, we must be very cautious."
"We also need to figure out where she came from." Hiloria nodded as she pulled the sheet up over the girl's body and set the bed monitors to alert her if anything changed. She did not doubt that the girl would have nightmares. She paused and then hit controls on the bedside. A tube extended from the bed to the medical arm band. Hiloria nodded as Sofia's face relaxed even further. The mild sedative was not habit-forming. It would keep her from thrashing. The staff would monitor her mind, ease her if needed.
She surprised herself when she reached out to stroke the girl's forehead. Sofia smiled in her sleep, but did not react otherwise. There was something so familiar about this girl, so very familiar. But Hiloria could not put it to mind.
Hiloria? Sister Amadri's mental tone jolted Hiloria out of her musing. You are needed in Meeting Room 2. Now.
What is the problem? Hiloria asked as she looked at Kriso, who nodded. He would stay with the girl.
Your battle with the Templar caught the attention of one of the Chosen. Amadri sounded afraid. Who could blame her? He is here.
Oh.