Wet work
Alley had known that telling the nest about this new oddity would not be fun, but she had never imagined this response.
"Marina, I can't move!" Alley complained as Marina fiddled with the gear on her back yet again. The suit that Alley wore was armor and so much more. It combined limited mobility, tracking, protection from the crush of the depths, breathing apparatus, and communication. It was heavy as hell! "I will sink like a rock!"
"One more time, Alley." Marina said firmly. "Arisha says it was real, so, we have to try one more time. But we are not putting you in danger."
"I should have just gone and done it." Alley grumbled as Marina settled the rebreather a bit more snugly in its place on Alley's back before checking the hoses that led to Alley's helmet yet again. "This is ridiculous."
"if you had, all kinds of people would have been unhappy." Oshina interjected from where he stood and Alley nodded.
The Clan Leader had flown in the day after Alley had explained to the nest what she had seen in her memory. He didn't seem happy, but then again? He never did. He and the Lady were in talks and the Lady was cautiously hopeful for being able to use the gene altering machines that their Mother had acquired to help the Mutons. He had taken time from his busy schedule to speak privately with Alley and she appreciated it. He wasn't gentle. He didn't do gentle normally, but in his own way, he had been kind.
"True." Alley sighed and gave in. She did not resist as Marina pulled the straps tighter even though it hurt. "I don't understand what she meant. There were few who could have even accessed that information. Why make it so cryptic?"
"Few doesn't mean none, Alley." Oshina reminded her. She made a face in her helmet and nodded. "You know what the Elders would have done if they had even suspected she was disloyal."
Alley made another face and nodded again. Such wouldn't have been pretty. Even here, even now, after all this, Oshina was still displeased with his progenitor's dishonorable tactics. They had worked, but he didn't like them.
"Okay." Alley sighed deeply and looked at Marina who gave her a thumbs up. "Egh, I hate this part."
It took every ounce of willpower Alley had not to jerk the helmet off and throw it away when a hiss sounded and cold fluid started filling it. Marina took hold of one of Alley's hands and Ami the other as the fluid reached her mouth and nostrils.
"Just breathe normally, Alley." Marina said into on their private channel when Alley instinctively held her breath. "It is oxygenated. You know you won't drown."
Alley made a rude gesture at her and then recoiled a little as Oshina grabbed her hand. He didn't do anything. He just held her hand and she slowly relaxed. Alley's lungs were burning and the need to breathe was becoming overpowering, but she couldn't override her body's instincts. No matter what her brain said, her nose and mouth said that if she took a breath, she would drown. Finally, she was forced to exhale and the fluid flowed down the air pipes. She gagged, instinctively trying to fight. Trying to expel the fluid that her hind brain was saying was killing her. Oshina held her hand and more than one was holding her other as she heaved and gasped. Finally, the sensations faded and Alley relaxed. She slumped a bit and turned to look at Marina who nodded.
"I know it sucks, Alley." Marina said quietly. "But that fluid will provide counter pressure and keep you alive if you go deep. You have almost twenty-four hours of oxygen in that tank. So even if you do sink, we will find you."
"This feels really weird." Ally couldn't manage normal speech with fluid in her lungs, but she could mostly make herself understood sub-vocal. "Mother said 'swim', not 'dive'."
"We tried a pool and a freshwater lake, Alley. Salt water is the only other place to try." Ami reminded her. "We have a day before the ceremony. Arisha? You ready?"
The rest of the nest stood nearby, mostly with worried faces. Vipers could swim and Alley was pretty good at that, but looking out over the open ocean was daunting even to such indomitable spirits. The Atlantic Ocean in all its glory and hidden danger lay spread before them as they stood on a beach in the middle of what had once been the East Coast of the United States.
"Yes. I will maintain contact as best as I can. She is really unhappy." Arisha slithered up to lay a hand on Alley's shoulder. "Be calm, nest mate. You are not alone."
No. You are not. Was it Alley's imagination that she heard another voice? A soft, calm male voice from far away? It seemed somewhat familiar, but that wasn't anyone that Alley knew and when she tried to focus on it, the need to faded as well as the memory of the voice.
"Let's get this done." Alley sent to everyone. "I don't want to fail Mother."
She tried to slither forwards, but she was too heavy to move. Vipers were strong, but there were limits and Marina's paranoia had surpassed them. She expected her nest to help her and was shocked when Oshina himself picked her up with both hands and carried her towards the ocean. She was trying to from a protest as he hefted her. The Clan Leader wasn't meant for menial labor. No one else seemed inclined to argue.
"Hush." Oshina's soft voice was for her ear holes alone. "I wasn't here for Mark. I am for you."
Alley all but collapsed in shock at that. Oshina blamed himself? But… It wasn't his fault! Vahlen's goon had shot Mark.
"You think Mother was the only one who loved you lot?" Oshina asked very quietly as he carried Alley deeper into the water. Alley looked at him and slowly shook her head, not trusting her limited vocal communication. He set her down in water that was up to the Muton's waist and she floated. She set the suit to go lower and it did until only her head was above water. Oshina nodded. "Go on. We are watching."
Alley turned to see her nest staring at her from the shore. Oshina made no move to go back to shore and Alley nodded to him. She made her buoyancy slightly positive so she was going up and then started off, using the suits propulsion jets to ease here and there and then settled into a slithering motion that mimicked her normal mode of transport. She was sliding across the top of the water fairly quickly when it happened.
"Incoming unknown!" Cable called. "Underwater. Oh crap! That is a fin! Shark! Alley! Get out of the water!" He called. More than one of the nest had weapons in hands for all the good they would do against an underwater predator.
Alley was glad to see Oshina was backing towards the shore even as the Viper spun that way herself. He was brave, he wasn't foolish. He had little chance against such a predator in its own environment if he wasn't prepared. That wouldn't stop him from fighting, Alley knew, but she was-
Wham!
Something slammed into Alley and she was suddenly spinning. The last thing she heard before passing out was Arisha's mental scream.
Somewhere
She wasn't dead.
Alley was floating in to something that glowed green. Something so familiar. Nothing hurt. She was listless. Drugged?
A-137. A cold voice spoke inside Alley's head. You return.
Return? Alley asked, confusion rising before falling back. That had been her designation before Mark had named her. Mark. The memory hurt, but the hurt was not crippling now through whatever held her.
You will serve. The other said sharply as agony bored through Alley's head, leaving her weeping when it faded. But then anger rose, an old familiar friend, sweeping the lethargy from her mind and leaving rage in its wake.
I serve my nest! Alley shouted in her mind Not you!
No! Don't resist! Another voice called, but it was to late. Fresh agony tore consciousness from Alley again.
Later
When Alley woke again, she was lying on something hard. Not metal. Stone? She heard water dripping all around her and did not move as something nudged her tail. Whatever it was, it wasn't metal. It felt like flesh, but no flesh Alley had ever felt.
"I know you are awake." A somewhat familiar voice said quietly. "That was dumb. The facility AI is about as smart as a box of rocks, but resistance always makes it use force." Alley did not react. She tried her sub-dermal com, but it wasn't there! It had been removed? That was impossible! They would have self destructed! Killed her! The other sighed a little. "I know you are confused. I know you are scared. You have cause for both. What is your name?"
"This unit's designation is A-137." Alley replied in a robotic voice and was stunned when the other laughed. "What?"
"Nice try." The other was still chuckling. "If you had done that with the AI, it wouldn't have stunned you so badly. Like I say, it isn't that smart. Name?" He inquired. Again, Alley did not move. She surreptitiously gathered her guts in to spit and the other spoke quickly. "Oh crap! Don't do that here! Code: Plesiosaur Regina."
Alley swallowed her spit even as it burned. Another of Mother's agents? She opened her eyes to wonder. She was lying on bare stone in what looked like a natural cavern. Sunlight filtered in from somewhere and she had to admit, the view was beautiful. She was not wearing any of her gear now. And-
She was being watched!
Alley stared at the head that stood up out of the water. It was obviously some kind of aquatic creature. She had studied a few with Mark. This one looked sort of like a bottle-nose dolphin, but not entirely. The deice that stood up on its back was obviously a weapon of some kind and it looked like Elder manufacture. There was also a small device over where the blow hole would have been on an Earth dolphin. It too looked like Elder tech. The odd being was looking at her expectantly.
"Do I say 'Ark Ark'?" Alley asked quietly.
"If you call me 'Flipper', I will shoot you." The other warned and his weapon swiveled to aim at her. He was totally serious, so Alley dropped that joke.
"I won't." Alley promised. "At least, not when I am under your gun." Said weapon turned away from her and she relaxed a little.
"It is a stunner, but they hurt. You are bad, girl." The other said sourly. Then he chuckled. "I like you. You are exactly as she described."
"What is going on?" Alley asked, looking around. The area wasn't that large. The only access that she could possibly fit through was the pool that the aquatic agent was in. "Where am I? My nest is going to go nuts."
"They are." The other sighed. "But you are over a thousand kilometers from where you were taken. Plus almost two thousand meters down." Alley shivered and then other's head moved up and down. A nod? "This is the only privacy we have in this horrible place. I brought you here because if you fight in the facility, at best, you will die and at worst? A whole lot of innocents will die."
"What?" Alley asked, flummoxed. "A facility? Underwater?" She paused. "Wait. The Elder's fortress was underwater!"
"Exactly. They came to the oceans first and set up shop here before starting to conquer. The Elders made this place to be self sustaining." The other said sadly. "It is. Easer's manipulations caused things to go haywire. Mother came and did what she could, but she had to leave and we have had to endure. She promised to send help. But… She said a pair. You are alone and you are hurting. Your partner?" He asked gently. Alley shook her head. The agent stared at her, sympathy I seeping out of it to Alley's jangling senses. "Oh, no. I am sorry."
"Why not call for help?" Alley asked. "The Elders are gone."
"We can't." The other snapped and then spoke up again. "Sorry. After so long enslaved, it gets to us all. We have tried. Others of us have fled, but the facility guardians..." He broke off and looked away. "They kill any who they find outside the bounds. Any who transgress inside are dropped outside to be eaten."
"Eaten." Alley said slowly. "Sharks?" She asked and the other nodded. "I assume one was what grabbed me."
"Yes." The other replied sourly. "The AI received a transponder burst and sent guardians to seek it. They knocked you unconscious and brought you back for study."
"Study." Alley put a wealth of unhappiness into that word and the other nodded again.
"The Elder may be gone, but the facility is too stupid to realize that and even if it did?" The other sighed deeply. "It will follow its program. Hold the conquered territory for the Elders even if they are gone."
"So, what is it doing?" Alley asked.
"It is modifying Earth sea life into, well..." It made a sour noise. "Things like me."
"It called my by my old designation." Alley said slowly. The creature nodded again. "This place is familiar." She paused and then shook her head. "I am Alley.
"It should be." The other smiled widely at her. "You were made here just as I was. My name is 'Ray'."
"Ray?" Alley was more than a bit surprised by the mundane name and stared as the dolphin thing seemed to wilt. "What?"
"Okay..." The other gave a long suffering groan. "My name is..." He gave a series of clicks, whines and piercing barks that had Alley covering her ear holes. Was that a language? If so, she didn't know it. "Which translates to 'Brilliant Ray Of Sunshine That Pierces The Gloomy Depths'." His head shook. "Please call me 'Ray'." He begged.
"Ray it is." Alley said as she lowered her hands. "What do you think I can do, Ray? Killing an AI is not easy and I don't have any weapons. Can we wait for my team?"
"No." Ray sighed. "I could take you to heal for a bit after it hurt you so badly, but I have to take you back when it demands you. It took out your implants. All of them." Alley stared at him, shocked even now and he nodded again. "Which is why your Mother came here in the first place."
"Looking for a way to free us." Alley inhaled as realization struck. "And she found you!" Horror followed realization. "She left you here?"
"She didn't have a choice." Ray reassured her. "She wanted to take at least a couple of us, but none of the pod would go if all of us couldn't."
"Noble." Alley's mind was whirling. "So, this is… what? A lab? A breeding facility? What?"
"All that and more." Ray had a smile in his voice now. "It is not a bad life, Alley. The AI does monitor us and take care of our needs. It just...we are not free. We didn't know what the word meant until your Mother came and activated Easer's hidden programming. We have worked hard since to maintain the illusion of being the perfect slaves. As we did when your partners came here and were altered. When you first bonded to them. Here."
"This was Easer's lab!" Alley stared at the walls, shocked. "This is where she killed Mark and the others!" She was crying and Ray nudged her gently. "She took everything from them. She hurt them so badly."
"From one point of view, yes." Ray said quietly. "From another? She was a slave, Alley. Do you think she had a choice?"
"She broke their programming." Alley snapped. "And… Mother killed her." She slumped. "I… I loved my partner. He is gone but Easer hurt him. Even if it wasn't her who brutalized and tortured him, she did hurt him."
"Alley." Ray's voice was super soft now. "Let go of your fear."
"I am not afraid! I am angry!" Alley snapped.
"So am I." Ray replied. "But you cannot be who you must if you cannot move past this. If the facility take you back in as you are, it will dissect you. It is currently studying your implants to see how the agent trigger was removed. It will implant you with a new one."
"I have no partner." Alley said weakly.
"I know." Ray replied.
"It will kill me." Alley winced. Part of her still wanted to die. A small part, thank goodness.
"There is another way, Alley, but it is permanent." Ray said gently. "You won't be able to undo what Easer did. What she laid in your cells so long ago."
"What?" Alley demanded. "What are you saying?"
"Easer planned this, Alley." Ray explained. "All of this. Not the particulars. She didn't know if it would be you or another Viper, but she knew that sooner or later one of you would come back. She knew that the Elders or someone like them would try to use you. Don't let them. Your nest can be trusted. No one else. Not even me." He warned. "If it comes down to your nest or my pod? I will choose my pod."
Alley took a deep breath and focused herself. "What do I do?"
"Jump in." Ray moved to the side a bit. "It will hurt. Birth always hurts."
"I am sterile." Alley said softly as she slithered to the pool.
"Are you?" Ray asked. His tone wasn't mocking. It was… anticipatory?
She slid into the water and the universe exploded behind her eyes as Ray shot her.