The Landale flew aimlessly through the dark without direction, without destination. An hour had passed since they had been forced to pack up and leave the space station in a hurry, and Zelan was now only a bright little speck in the sky amidst all the other stars and assorted lights. They were safe now and pretty much okay, but at what cost?
Chaz groaned as Rika and Hahn held him down firmly in the metal chair. They were preventing him from flinching away as Raja inspected his burned shoulder and arm carefully. Poor Chaz had been the only one during the exodus to be wounded by Siren, and even though the shot had only grazed him it was strong enough to inflict some serious harm. Fortunately Chaz was surrounded by at least three people skilled in the art of healing wounds.
"Too bad you weren't wearing armor, it would have repelled most of the fire." Raja observed as he peeled away the burnt strip of cloth to the seared red flesh underneath. Part of Chaz's skin had blistered immediately, another part had just gone black and disgusting. The dezorian priest nodded to the people holding Chaz down in warning and applied a gentle pressure to the injury to measure its severity. The hunter jerked reflexively and tried to leap out of the chair, grunting in pain.
"Don't worry. Like beauty, this wound is only skin-deep. I'll run a gires through it and patch it up with some bandages. He should be able to sleep on this side again in just under a week. There's nothing beautiful about this ugly wound!" Raja laughed in his characteristic way and patted Chaz fondly on the shoulder. The boy flinched again and shot him a dirty look. "Do we have a first aid kit around here I can use?"
"Hold on, I'll go get it." Hahn volunteered and got up off his knees with a spring in his step, releasing Chaz's free arm from the armrest. The hunter immediately reached over and tried to grab the wound in pain, but Raja snatched his wrist in an iron wiry grip and held it tight. He spoke a few quiet words under his breath and numbness flowed down Chaz's arm and into his body, diluting like a coloured dye in water. They could see no sudden, physical improvement in his injury but that would change in time. Right now all Chaz really needed was quick relief.
Hahn returned shortly after Chaz had calmed down and together with Raja they dressed and bandaged up the young hunter. Rika did not need to do anything more than hold Chaz's hand. The young man looked towards the girl with a weary yet relived grin. "That was really close. For a while back there I was honestly starting to believe we might not make it in time. It would have been the stupidest ending ever, to go through all that we did with the darkness only to be killed by some crazy android in space. I'm glad that you're okay, honey."
"I'm glad you're okay, too." Rika replied and put her arms around Chaz gently, trying not to come in contact with the burn or hinder her friends who were working on him. It proved to be a slightly difficult task, but she managed. Even with one arm Chaz still had a good firm hug. Light, if there had only been a second's difference in what had happened Siren could have killed Chaz instead of only grazing him. Then what would she have done? "I love you, Chaz.."
"Love you too, Ri-ah! Don't bandage so tightly!" The hunter began as lovingly as he could only to be cut off by his own short shout of pain. Rika immediately released him from the hug in case that cry had anything to do with her. Chaz glared death at Raja once more, about to pin the bandage up and call it a day. "What's your problem?" He winced.
"Any more sweet talk from you lot and Hahn and I will wind up with cavities!" Raja laughed and let go, Chaz pulling his arm back into the sleeve of his burnt shirt and jacket. Thankfully the wound was mostly a burn so it would not bleed. The old dezorian got up off the floor and dusted his knees in a habitual manner, even though the floor of the Landale was far from dusty.
Hahn packed up the first-aid kit on his own because it seemed like Raja wasn't going to be bothered, brushing aside his long brown plait that got in the way whenever he bent over. He felt like he was the only one worried about where they were going and what they had left behind. Zelan was important to the two worlds, instrumental to their function, and they had left it all to Siren. What could they do next? All Hahn really wanted was to go home to his wife. He had come to help, not to be run out like some kind of criminal.
The door to the infirmary glided open and Demi appeared, timidly standing out in the hallway. She still seemed a little shaken up by what had happened earlier, but she had pulled it together enough to be functional once more. Siren had scared her like nobody else had, so much that she was afraid to be on her own. She would stay with Wren if that were possible, but she was afraid that he might be angry with her for causing a mess. "Hello, may I come in?" She asked politely.
"Of course, you don't have to ask, Demi. Come on in." Rika replied and beckoned to the little android girl, holding the tear in her dress together with one spare hand. She stepped inside and went straight toward her friends, or more accurately towards Rika who was at her own height by sitting on the floor.
"Is Chaz okay?" Demi looked to the blond palman with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I've been hit by far worse blasts. It reminded me of Lassic and his servants, actually." Chaz smiled bravely. Of course, the difference was that he had been fitter and outfitted in specially resistant armor back then. "They were strong. It doesn't make much sense, a wren with magical abilities. Next we'll see our own Wren pulling rabbits out of a hat or something. I can understand why Rune was so edgy about Siren and his esper spells."
"Rune is up at the bridge with Master Wren. I think they are trying to figure out our next destination." Demi fidgeted slightly as she looked to the side. "Didn't Siren look just like Master Wren? They could have been brothers were they palmans. I know the wren series was a rather generic production model in the past but I have never had to deal with more than one at a time before. Do you think Master is angry with me for forcing him to come with us? If it were not for my hesitation he would still be on Zelan."
"Wren made a decision to come with us when he grabbed you. It was his choice, not yours, so he has no reason to be angry with you. Siren wasn't your fault either, Demi." Rika explained. If anything she should feel happy that Wren had elected to abandon Zelan for the sake of his servant. It was almost a palman error. Now that they were all together again just like three years ago things felt like they reverting back to normal. It was like the years of separation had never even taken place.
"I know, but I just can't shake the feeling that I have allowed something terrible to happen." Demi raised a hand to her face and lightly touched the small red mark upon her forehead, the mark which had startled Siren so. She did not know the reason why that had happened but felt it was extremely important to find out. "What is a Le Cille? Siren looked like he had seen a ghost when he said that. I am not a ghost."
Chaz and Raja wore blankly clueless faces to the question while Hahn and Rika honestly appeared to think about it. "Le Cille… it's not really common english, is it? It sounds like a derivative of ancient palmatin dialect, which probably wouldn't be surprising when you consider how old Siren must be. They had an ancient palmatin language course at the academy but I, er, never took it." Hahn admitted with an apologetic shrug.
"It sounds familiar. Le Cille, not the word itself but the structure of the word." Rika mused for a few quiet moments, then her eyes lit up as realization dawned on her. Her eyes now seemed to sparkle happily. "Of course! I learned about the basics back in Birth Valley! Chaz, do you remember Rykros and the beings that we met there? Sa Lews? De Vars? Le Roof? It's a name! Siren was addressing you with that name! Is your name 'Le Cille' in ancient palmatin, Demi?"
Demi shook her head. "I don't think so. I have always just been known as 'Demi', no number, never anything else. I'm the only Demi that ever was and ever will be. Siren shouldn't know who I am, shouldn't know anything about me. I suppose it isn't important. All that matters is figuring out where we should go from here."
"That doesn't really matter as long as we can go back to Zelan and reclaim it from Siren. What we need are weapons, armor, equipment and some rest. Then we need to figure out how to get back aboard Zelan without the atmosphere killing us. The place is just like that blue satellite now, untouchable and dead." Chaz observed grimly, then brightened up again. "You guys are all welcome to stay at our place in Aiedo until we can get everything figured out. It's big enough for everyone."
"Yeah, I am greatly looking forward to sleeping on your floor again." Hahn commented dryly as he snapped the lid of the first-aid kit firmly closed. From Aiedo Krup was so close, but just far away enough to make travelling there impractical. It was a shame. "Lets move to the bridge and stop Rune and Wren from taking us to Tyler or Kuran, or whatever."
"What's wrong with Tyler?" Raja asked, defensive of his own planet while everybody started to get up and file out of the makeshift infirmary. "What's wrong with the Tyler basin? It's the greatest place in Algo! It's got my temple, Gyuna's bar and grill, drinks for only two meseta each, a spaceport, hey, I could go on forever…" He listed as he followed his friends, counting every little thing on one of his long green fingers, his prattle a consistent drone to which nobody listened.
†††
"You're going to have to say something eventually." Rune intoned as he leaned against the cool hull of the Landale, his arms folded stoically. "You can't just clam up and pretend that losing Zelan never happened. Talk to me, Wren. Where the hell are you taking us?"
Wren was sitting in the pilot's seat and staring blankly at the main screen and controls, yet he hadn't said a word since he had sent the ship out into open space. The muteness was unnerving because although Wren was a quiet individual he would always speak when spoken to. Being ignored by a machine was not something Rune embraced and enjoyed. "What would you like me to say? We have no current destination." He said at last.
He had uttered this emotionlessly yet Rune could still sense a dull, bitter anger in Wren. The android wasn't quite sure how to deal with it properly so he had basically shut that part of himself down. Rune knew that the healthiest way to expel anger was to yell and possibly break something, but he doubted Wren would support anything like that. "Let's go back to Motavia. Most of our friends live there, we might as well go to a place where they'll feel at home."
"Roger." Wren said lifelessly and adjusted their course according to Rune's wishes.
The esper yawned. He was so tired he felt like he could just drop dead then and there. Any brief sleep that he had gotten on Zelan was negated by the energy taken to cast those spells at Siren. He could sleep for days, for even a week maybe. Rune slowly knelt down and sat on the floor of the flight deck, wrapping his white cloak around himself like a blanket. He wanted to sleep, but he could not for as long as their party remained scared and confused. He could rest his eyes however, just a little…
"Rune, may I ask you a question?" Wren inquired gently as he closed the auto-map system after a brief navigational check. They would reach the atmosphere of Motavia in close to an hour and a half. Zelan was far behind them and Siren with it.
The magician opened one eye for a moment and stretched slightly, working the stiffness out of his shoulders. "Yeah, what is it?" He asked. Rune was far from being a sympathetic ear but at least Wren was talking of his own volition again.
"Where exactly was the Lutz when the Collapse Wars were ravaging Motavia? Why didn't he do anything to aid the war effort?" Wren questioned simply.
Rune looked at him in surprise. He hadn't been expecting a question like that. It certainly woke him up some and the esper had to clear his mind and his throat to think. It was a very delicate issue and a seemingly cruel choice had been made. Rune knew he had nothing to do with it personally, for he had not been born until a thousand years later, but he still felt the Lutz's guilt as his own.
"Eh… it's hard to say. I could tell you where he was and what he was doing but it doesn't colour him in a very good light. Lutz went back to Dezoris after the collapse of Palma and did nothing for a time. Motavia wasn't the Lutz's business and he couldn't meddle personally in the affairs of the war. If he took a side and fought for that side's ideal and view of life then he would be advocating one thing and condemning another. The Lutz must remain unbiased and attuned to the Light. Besides, other espers went down to Motavia and fought in the wars themselves, so you can't say that the espers did absolutely nothing."
"Yes, I remember. The Le Cille clan did indeed choose a side and fought ruthlessly with their esper spells. They were the rebel faction's most adept soldiers." Wren went quiet for nearly five minutes. Rune realised that the android was about to go somewhere with this, somewhere important. It sounded like he was suggesting he was physically present during those wars. "…I killed many of the Le Cille clan in the name of the Motavian government."
"So you chose a side, huh?" Rune stated tonelessly. It shouldn't have bothered him but it did, Wren admitting that he had actually killed espers before. It had been so long ago but the Lutz from that time would have been horrified, saddened, and furious. Rune briefly fleshed back to the ancient battlefield on Azura, where espers and androids had clashed and fallen. Everything kept on coming back to that one, general conflict. It was eerie.
"It was not a choice. I was created for the sole purpose of becoming a soldier and wiping out the rebel resistance factions. All that I have now, Demi, Zelan and my current purpose, it all came after I fulfilled my duty in the war. It was such a long time ago." Wren wasn't quite sure of the exact reason why he was telling Rune all this; there were multiple reasons.
It was Siren recognizing Demi's uncanny likeness to a member of the Le Cille clan, how they had severed their connection to the Esper Mansion by painting that red mark upon their faces and heading out into battle. It was Siren openly declaring his allegiance to the Sa Ruik clan, a different faction of the Collapse War rebels who were no less deadly than their esper counterparts. Last of all, it was from a vague sense of guilt that he had never let himself feel before, from the origin of the Waizz Star and the dead android to that it had belonged. They were all connected somehow, in some way, he just could not see it.
After all, these three references to the past had come to meet one another at exactly the same time. Rune knew that there must have been a reason why an android like Wren, who could be equipped in such a way as to destroy an entire space station in one attack had been given a maintenance job instead of what he had been built for. His purpose, his life in the present had only come about through his successful career as a soldier. "Did you have a rank?" Rune found himself asking.
"Low enough not to have any control of the direction of the war, high enough that I had a great many lives at my command. I am telling you this because I suspect that although Siren was present on the Alisa Three for the duration of the conflict he has an intimate knowledge of the rebel faction from the Collapse Wars. There is certainly a relevancy in that somewhere."
"And because you need to keep focussing on things even when you lose something that's important. That's what I had to do when I lost Alys to the darkness, focus all my anger, grief and hate directly toward Zio. We'll get Zelan back. Siren's just one person and we're several people. We outnumber him and prepared with weapons we can be just as tough as we used to be when we fought against the darkness."
Rune yawned again, muffling it with a hand. "High enough to boss people around, hm? There wasn't like an age barrier to being an officer?" Wren didn't answer, but Rune calculated that he must have been only a year or two, given the time when the war began and concluded.
"It was a long time ago." Wren repeated after a while, when both he and Rune began to hear the echoes of footsteps coming down the bridge's hall, and Raja's raised voice that only a priest used to giving loud sermons could reproduce. Before they could enter Wren said one last thing privately to Rune, because unlike the others Rune was still deeply connected to the past. That was very common ground to him.
"This feeling that I've had, that we all have, it is not just from the Alisa Three. The Alisa Three may only be the beginning, I fear."
"Let's just focus on getting back to Motavia." Rune gave in, eager to change the subject. "It's not healthy to bottle up anger. You remember Chaz and his megido technique, right? It's best to get rid of anger before it becomes toxic."
"Perhaps later." Wren said.
†††
Siren was left standing alone in the halls of Zelan, the space station now as dead and as empty of life as a stone mausoleum. No living things which required oxygen to breathe could survive in there. If the layans had left any of their own behind they had certainly left them to experience a very painful death, but Siren knew that the entire space station was empty. The cowardly fools had bequeathed the entire place to him. What a lovely gift.
He could tell that Zelan held some kind of deep importance to the layans, or else they would have occupied any number of the other stations floating out there in Algo's space. The android wasn't aware that only Zelan and Kuran remained, to him everything was still a thousand years in the past. Zelan was his now, he had won it from the blue-haired layan. If Siren could not have the layans dead and suffocated at his feet then their base was quite a nice consolation prize. He could keep it or destroy it, it was all up to him.
He needed a little time to think about that. Siren took up his heavy weapon and walked out of the spaceship docks, leaving the other two dozen or so ships behind. The layans had taken the biggest and grandest ship in the hangar away with them, but the other ships were nothing to be ashamed of either. Perhaps he could think of a good use for them later. Siren stalked back to the main control area and accessed one of Zelan's many computers, finding his little password still there and flashing demandingly on the screen.
Siren smiled nastily. So the airheaded Forren had been unable to crack his code. It had been so simple, any layan with half a brain in their heads could have figured it out. He had specifically made the password rather easy so that he could test just how intelligent those fools seemed to be. The Forren had failed miserably, even going insofar as to utilize password cracking programs to guess the code. In the end all Forren had managed to do was ruin Siren's armor and that was easily replaceable.
Still smiling, Siren leaned over the controls and hit four keys on the keyboard, unlocking the life-support system for his usage. If the layans came back then he would turn it on again for a truly deserving welcome. The wren-type sat at the controls and browsed the layout of Zelan's computers for a while, absorbing as much data regarding the station as he could. Some of the information was readily accessible while the most relevant files asked for a Zelan worker ID code. Another password, but this time not his own.
It did not perturb him. There were other ways around that which did not require blind guesswork. From what he could gather with the free information this Zelan space station was a climate control center for the two remaining planets, Motavia and Dezoris. Along with controlling the weather and climate in moderation Zelan also monitored and audited its own progress. No wonder the layans seemed to have valued this castle so, it was the life-support for the entire Algo system; its heart.
Siren gleaned the year, the month, the date and the time. It caused him to pause and appear mildly surprised. Had Kay Eshyr and Le Cille really kept him in cryogenic sleep for that long? He supposed that they had. How they must have laughed, he fumed, knowing that they could commit any foul deed they wanted without fear of Orakian retribution. They had locked up Siren, Orakio's last faithful vassal and now they were safe and free to worship their Dark Force. Well, not anymore.
All that was left of Palma was a thin rocky asteroid belt. Siren had been evacuated along with many palmans and androids to the worldships when the planet had blown. It was a thousand years later and no effort had been made to clear up the mess. Nobody willing to give a damn seemed to be left. Algo was perpetuating its long slow crawl into the pit of oblivion. Siren needed to get deeper into Zelan, get by that ID code and take the space station into his own worthy hands.
He leant back into his chair and closed his eyes, intending to rest for just a little while. It didn't matter whether he was an android or not, for as long as he burned up mental energy by focussing and casting esper spells Siren was bound to tire. He never required normal sleep unless he had been flaunting his magical powers. Siren slipped away and slept for a brief hour or two, and while he did this the Landale drew closer and closer to Motavia. It was a few hours before dawn when Siren awoke again, and he awoke with the rough blueprint of a plan in mind.
No living soul could exist on Zelan while Siren had the life-support system under his control. This did not include those on Zelan who technically were not alive. He had seen it himself, the vast storage area at the back of the station filled with dead and damaged androids, spare parts and tools. They could not all be broken beyond repair, with his skill and talents in machinery what was broken could quickly be revived.
He required new servants anyway. Those few robots he had reanimated on Azura were just a test, just the beginning of his great skill. If he could find an android with access to Zelan's protected data files he would have something substantial to start with. Besides, Siren had never been a simple worker or drone, he had always held proudly his honor as a leader and a master in his own right. He had only served his Lord Orakio faithfully and the swordsman had always treated him no less than an equal. He needed servants to command, like the old days.
Once more he wandered the hallways of Zelan on his own, only this time he need not fear being spotted. His cloaking device required maitenance after the thrashing that Rune's tandle had given it, but he would fix it later. Siren didn't need it right now anyway. The storage area was a lot like a prison, with lettered blocks categorizing the dead androids and sectioning them away into tiny secure cells.
Sometimes an android wouldn't stay dead. Sometimes they would try to fight back, so they would have to be held down and restrained while their operating systems were removed. In the past it was common knowledge that androids had a five times more likely chance to go crazy or commit suicide. Could you blame them? Fortunately, they were also five times more disposable than their relative palman counterparts. With Mother Brain around they could always just make more.
Siren decided to start from block A and work his way down the alphabet from there. He had explored those hallways already but he had not actually looked inside the cells. It would be disrespectful without a purpose, like a palman wantonly pulling open drawers in a mortuary only because they desired to see what the corpses within looked like. He wanted to find the perfect servant, and with a hundred cells to a block he would definitely not be lacking in choice and variety.
The slow, tedious search began. He'd go into a cell, poke around for a few moments and if the machine inside didn't appear promising then he would move on to a different room. Block A was stocked with androids and robots which appeared to have died of natural causes or the passage of time. Parts of them had burnt out from overuse or they had just given up the cybernetic ghost when their expiration dates had come to pass. Most of the cellmates from block A were cheap mindless drones, whistles and worker pods and piles of mismatched garbage.
By cell ten he had only discovered one moderately sophisticated android, a small Lou-type who had been partially dismantled. At least half of her parts were missing and the parts which still remained were utterly trashed. Siren probably could fix her with the right tools and parts, but it would take many hours of dedicated, diligent work. He moved on, but if he had to then he would come back.
The next few cells were uneventful and nothing really caught his eye. Cell nineteen was jammed shut and he'd have to actually tear the door down to get inside, and cell twenty five was so packed full of junk and various bits of machinery that stuff actually fell out of the room onto Siren the moment he opened the door. He closed it in a hurry then continued, but all he found were more assorted robots with only a rudimentary AI program. Several more cells were entirely empty.
When he reached room thirty nine Siren found Mieus.
He knew there was something special about that cell even before he went inside. The doors had snapped closed against a thin strip of pink fabric, of the very same shade as the dress one of the evacuated layans were wearing. Siren recalled that the girl had been covering up a long rip in the shoulder. This meant that cell thirty nine had been visited recently by the layan scum. He pulled the cloth free of the door, inspecting it briefly before going inside.
Demi had laid Mieus out nicely again, so when Siren found her she was back into the position of looking like a sleeping maiden. The android identified her type immediately, back in his day the mieu type was just as common a production series as his own. Siren moved over to the metal table and inspected her body closely. She didn't seem to be damaged in any way; she was perfectly intact.
He put an arm behind her shoulders and lifted Mieus into a sitting position, checking her back for injuries. No, nothing. How strange. Why dump a perfectly functional android like this into a graveyard to be lost and forgotten? Her lifeless head rolled towards him and strands of red hair much like his own brushed against his arm. Actually she was rather beautiful, for a machine.
He then noticed the black choker band around her neck and realised why this mieu-type was unharmed. She was out of place for this block made of the lawful, sensible dead, she was wearing a slave collar and there was only one crime for that punishment. The layans had wanted to silence her, to render her into an artificial coma and pretend she was dead. Siren was intensely curious to discover the reason why, any scathing information against the layans would surely be a boon to his own quest.
He needed a servant and this android girl was the best specimen he had found so far. Holding her in his arms Siren didn't really want to put her down again and continue his search without figuring out her reason for being there. If this mieu was undamaged then it would also save him a lot of time and effort repairing her. Just something about the girl seemed… important.
"Awaken for me, Mieu." Siren murmured as he unclasped the slave collar from around her neck, placing the article of bondage down upon the table.
For several long expectant moments nothing happened. Siren waited patiently to witness a reaction in the girl. There was a chance that he might not see a reaction at all, she might very well be dead even without the collar holding her captive. She could be burnt out just like all the other machines in block A, which would justify her presence here. Still, Siren anticipated a response.
Abruptly the girl jerked in his grip, a full-body twitch that was just like her first inhalation of breath. She opened her eyes for the second time in almost twenty four hours. She stared indiscriminately, then her eyes focussed upon Siren. He had his guard up and he was prepared, sometimes when an android was deactivated for so long their actions could be totally randomized or unpredictable. They could smile, they could laugh, cry, or start screaming. On some occasions they could also become incredibly violent. Siren let go of her soft body and was secretly pleased to see that she could sit up on her own.
The mieu-type drew her legs up closer to her body and pressed her arms against her chest, compacting herself into a little ball or more importantly coiling herself like a spring. "You…" She whispered softly. She was conscious, she was speaking, but Siren noted in her response that she somehow seemed to identify him. "You…"
"You bastard!"
Her hands suddenly became claws and she leapt at him with all the ferocity of an angry tigress. She went straight for his face with an unbridled scream, if Siren hadn't already been on guard she could have easily ripped his face right off. He raised an arm in defense and Mieus flew right into it, and before her claws could come up to slash away at him he applied sharp pressure to her breast and roughly shoved her away. Her claws scratched at his armor-clad arms as she squealed in rage and slid off the table, falling down onto the floor.
She was on the ground for only a nanosecond and then she stood, tall and proud. Her balance seemed perfect and her face was contorted in petulant indignation. Mieus sidestepped around the table and went for Siren again at his left, avoiding the nasty looking weapon he was carrying at his right. Her long titanium claws gleamed coldly as she dug them into his compromised metal armor, ripping a good portion of it away. "I won't let you kill me, you bastard!" She shrieked as she yanked her claws out of his side.
Mieus' claws would surely make quick work out of a palman or any other fleshy individual, but to the wren-type it was like being scratched by an agitated kitten. It hurt and it did some small damage, left some marks behind, but it was far from being a serious injury. Siren didn't know what she was talking about, she was obviously confused. He could understand that but she needed to stop hurting him or else he'd have to classify her as an enemy. "Stop." He said sternly and grabbed her around the neck, squeezing until she acknowledged his request.
The pressure around her neck just reminded the girl of where that slave collar used to be. She felt Siren lift her off her feet until they were looking at one another, face to face. Mieus withdrew her claws and used her hands to grapple with the bigger android's wrist, unable to free herself under her own power. "Grandfather, please! Don't kill me!" She ground out, still trapped in her own version of the past.
"I am not your anything." Siren replied icily, holding her firm. Mieus' shoulders were extremely tense as she fought him with her dwindling power. "Listen to me. You have been sleeping for a very long time. If you are not broken then I suggest you cease attacking me, or I will snap your neck. Please calm down."
Mieus glared at him again, but then she paused and appeared to do a double-take. Her arms went slack, she dropped them down to her sides and her dark blue eyes went wide. Her blurred vision from extensive deactivation was beginning to clear and now she could see that the android she had thought was grabbing her was actually somebody else. They looked so similar, but the colour of his hair was a dead giveaway. The girl was hit by a sudden wave of dizziness. "You're not… who are you?" She gasped.
She seemed to have calmed down somewhat so Siren released her. If she attacked again then he would simply grab the slave collar off the table and put her back into a deep sleep. He guessed that that was what she feared most of all. With nothing to hold her up Mieus fell ungracefully to the floor. She stayed down this time, brushing aside her long hair and glancing up at Siren. "My name is Siren of the order of Sa Ruik. Please identify yourself. Are you a servant of Orakio or Laya?"
The android girl touched the cold floor, then her folded knees, then her face, like she could hardly believe she was there. The disorientation made it difficult to reply. Siren was patient with her because he could understand what extensive deactivation felt like. "I am… uh, I am… I can't remember. There's something wrong with me."
"The slave collar can affect memory if it is used too liberally. You must also be running at a rather low capacity. Just remain calm and the information should return to you. Here." Siren knelt down and picked the girl up off the floor, putting one arm beneath her legs with the other grasping her shoulders. She was rather light for a machine, and did not fight him as he gently set her back down on the table. Mieus edged away from him and stretched, testing her disused limbs.
"I thought you were somebody else. You look just like my grandfather. Sorry about attacking you. I was confused." Mieus said groggily. "The last thing I remember I was being attacked, I was having an argument, so I… I had to defend myself somehow."
Under the hold of a slave collar any span of time, from hours to hundreds of years, could be compressed into a single second within the mind of the wearer. If Mieus had been silenced in combat then was only natural she would reactivate and assume she was still in that battle. "Are you a servant of Orakio or Laya?" He repeated persistently. Any other information was currently irrelevant; he just needed to know this.
Mieus bit her lip cutely, a weird habit that seemed to have no purpose. "I don't know. What are they supposed to be? Are they people? I've never served anybody before, I've just lived here on Zelan with my mother and grandfather. It was good until I left and Grandfather put me to sleep." She clenched her hands and some of her previous anger returned in force, like a young child that had been denied what she truly wanted. "He never listened to me, never believed a word I said. I hate him! I hope he dies!"
"It is very easy to throw an android away." Siren observed in a noncommittal kind of sympathy. "However, it is also very easy to bring an android back. You say that you lived on this space station? Do you have a worker ID code to access the mainframe's secure files? This is very important."
She shook her head in the negative. "No. I don't think so. I never had a job here so there was no reason to give me a code. I don't care about that boring stuff anyway. It's nothing to do with me." She confessed with relish.
"Then I have no use for you." Siren concluded, reaching for the slave collar left on the table. He didn't have time to talk to people who could not help him. As his hand closed around the apparatus Mieus slapped her own, smaller hand over his, holding it down. The wren-type looked back to her face, she genuinely seemed afraid.
"Don't do that. Please don't do that. I don't want to go back to sleep!" She quavered, lifting her hand from his, and all of a sudden Mieus lunged forward at Siren again, only instead of it being a violent attack she threw her arms around his broad shoulders and held onto him tightly. Siren didn't react quickly enough, before he knew it she was clinging to him in fear. "I'm not useless! I can prove it! I'll do anything for you, just don't make me go back to sleep! Nobody will ever try to wake me up again!"
"Like I said before, it is very easy to throw an android away. Why should I keep you? You have been discarded here for a reason." Siren answered her stonily, but nevertheless he reached up and awkwardly put his arms around her as well. Despite what he was saying this mieu-type would have use for as long as she functioned perfectly without aid. He wasn't totally without sympathy, to his fellow androids and to all Orakians he could be kind. For the first time in a thousand years Siren smiled without bitterness or malice. "Are you Layan or Orakian?" He questioned.
"What would you like me to be?" The girl finally said after a slight hesitation. She wasn't dumb, she knew where her best interests lay. She owed this android everything for bringing her back to life.
"Tell me you are Orakian and you may remain conscious. I am Siren, and I will not neglect or hurt you for as long as you serve me." He muttered, grasping and pulling her off his chest. When he had been searching for servants this was certainly not what he had in mind, but it was different and it intrigued him. Mieus blinked slowly as she realised what she was committing herself to. To have a master. How exciting!
"I am an Orakian, Master Siren. Always have and always will be. Thank you so much for reviving me." She hopped off the table gracefully. Once she reached one hundred percent capacity she would be entirely herself again. The girl smiled brightly, beautifully at the wren-type. "My name is Mieus. I don't have a number. Let me follow you until you have no use for me anymore."
Siren took her hand. He was making excellent progress on his plans. He had yet to find an android with a workable ID code, but this was a start.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mieus." He said.
