A/N: Please join us on tumblr to see some relevant illustrations, like the amazing ones done by 2dshepard and spacialepopee. Much love to you guys.


[ Chapter 28: Liselle's Mother ]


Liselle had been at home, minding Rasma's advisement to stay out of trouble for a few days until Eingana reassembled. It was only unfortunate that her list of entertainment options was exhausted within a few hours of awakening that day, thrusting her into a boredom so consuming and severe that she finally brought herself to scrub her kitchen sink, where a few weeks of negligence had brought a pale film accumulating around its edges.

While laboring to erode the layer, Liselle received an audio message to her omni-tool. It had been addressed to at least thirty recipients, whose names had been redacted, but the contents of the message prevailed unvaried as it arrived at intended inboxes all over Omega. At first glance it appeared to contain orders, for which she would have been grateful if it meant her excusal from household chores and all the misery they caused her, but that moment of wry humor came to a jarring halt when she realized the serious nature of the correspondence.

The contents, drafted by Lieutenant Zuria Alaris, summoned every agent who received the message, provided that they were not presently tasked with another objective ordained by Aria, to Afterlife. The lieutenant was calling for additional units to the area to handle the aftermath of a worrisome incident, whose details were not disclosed. Fearing the worst, Liselle dropped her sponge without indulging in the smallest iota of relief and fled her apartment to a cab.

During the short ride she contacted Malak and Daus, inquiring if they happened to be knowledgeable of what had occurred at the nightclub that warranted the presence of extra operatives, and investigative ones at that. The two confessed their ignorance, but reported that they were also traveling to the same destination to offer their aid in any way the lieutenant saw fit. Liselle was only seated in transit for less than five minutes, but they seemed to excruciatingly double in length when subjected to her apprehension. She could scarcely sit still, keeping her forehead virtually braced against the windows to survey any sign that might indicate what the trouble consisted of.

Nearly a dozen other skycars were queuing to land upon the closet platform to Afterlife when Liselle's transportation arrived. Mercenaries were fanning out and erecting a wide circumference around the nightclub to prevent anyone without authorization from entering. When Liselle disembarked onto the busy scene she scanned the myriad faces for familiar ones, and eventually located the two operatives she recently spoke to standing with their firearms drawn while serving as part of the perimeter densely protecting the club's entrance. Liselle joined them near the base of the steps, mimicking their stances by retrieving her submachine gun from her belt and standing at attention beside them.

"Have you figured out what's going on?" she asked the pair, her brow shallowly furrowed with worry as she glanced over her shoulder at the very last crowd of patrons exiting Afterlife under an escort.

"Not a clue," said Daus. "We figured you were more likely to know something, given all that clearance you have. Where's the lieutenant?" The turian craned his neck, searching the shoals of people for Zuria's distinctive armor.

"Forget the lieutenant," Malak grumbled. "Where the hell is Aria? This is her main turf. If something's happened in her club I would've thought she'd be the first one on the scene."

They stood as dutiful sentinels for a time, keeping the curious from straying too close and redirecting all foot traffic past the property where Afterlife stood vacant of its usual clientele. Daus had been the first to spot Lieutenant Zuria as she emerged from the club, looking tremendously grave with her deep blue eyes clouded by repressed anxiety. When he pointed her out, Liselle removed herself from their company, explaining that she would accost Zuria, apprehend the reason for all the fuss, and report back with her findings.

Liselle winded through the commotion of bodies, heading toward Zuria at a hurried pace to compensate for the lieutenant now moving away from her and toward the common platforms where skycars continuously landed, delivered their passengers, and rose into the sky again. The maiden had almost ventured close enough to call out Zuria's name and expect a response, when the doors of one vessel lifted and produced the daunting figure of Aria T'Loak, bearing small cuts and bruises on her face, traces of dried blood upon her jawline, and fresher streaks marring the immaculate white of her jacket. While her presence caused all who saw her to shrink in submission, alarm and solicitude flooded Liselle the moment she saw her mother in such a state. The maiden kept moving forward, faster while slipping between two recently-arrived mercenaries. She monitored Aria's position and the long, purposeful strides she took in defiance of her highly disheveled presentation.

What Liselle initially interpreted as solemn poise was eclipsed by a startling reality. It was anger that drove Aria forward; the seething glower held on her face growing deeper and darker with every coiled step she took. Liselle's eyes darted back to Zuria, inquiring about her reception of Aria, and found the lieutenant utterly rigid and stalled in the midst of taking a step backward. Aria was upon Zuria within a few short seconds.

"I step out for a few hours and you let this happen?" Aria sneered at Zuria. When she arrived, a hand abruptly extended forward, seized Zuria beneath her jaw, and lifted her so that her toes lightly scraped against the ground, straining for purchase in a sudden whirlwind of panic. The hand wrapped around the lieutenant's throat nearly trembled from failing to contain the anger swelling within her body. "What the fuck am I paying you for!?"

Zuria's hands fumbled around Aria's wrist. "I'm sorry," she gasped, "I-I'm sorry, we were understaffed and no one ever saw something like this coming—"

"I would have!" Aria exclaimed. "I see everything that happens in there and anyone with an ounce of competence could've prevented this from happening!"

After a small grunt of pain left Zuria's throat, elicited by the bite of Aria's fingernails harshly digging into her skin, she muttered, although perhaps unwisely, "Just like you... Just like you saw Anikot poisoning you, huh?"

The fingers of Aria's free hand closed into a fist. She would've struck her lieutenant then, putting on a public display to illustrate what awaited insubordination or insolence, if Zuria had not caught sight of Liselle protruding from the coalescing crowd of spectators. Aria's gaze followed hers, coming to rest upon the shock and devastation present on her daughter's face. And Aria relented. She fumed, but gradually arrived at the decision to lower her fist. Zuria was dropped into a shaken stagger, while Aria uttered as if coldly persuading herself, "It's done. It happened, and it's done."

Aria stepped away from Zuria to address the gathered group of mercenaries, issuing them new orders. They scattered to carry out her will the very instant she finished speaking, unanimously fleeing the threat of her wrath. Meanwhile, Liselle was hazarding an approach. She stepped to Zuria's side as the lieutenant coughed once, leaning close to the ground while supported on her hands and knees. Liselle helped raise her from the shameful position, but Zuria responded to her aid by quietly stating that she should leave, that she shouldn't have seen what she had—

Before Zuria could finish, Aria had returned to retrieve her lieutenant. "Get in the car," she ordered Zuria, verbally seizing her from Liselle and indicating the vessel she had arrived in. Zuria obsequiously allowed herself to be stolen away, but Liselle hindered them.

"Will someone please tell me what happened?" she demanded, her gaze oscillating from her mentor to her mother, who both retained their secrecy on the matter.

"It's nothing you need to worry about," answered Aria, already motioning for Zuria to follow while turning her back on Liselle. "Just some trouble with one of the dancers."

Fear struck Liselle like a bolt of lightning. "Is it Anthya?" she impetuously asked.

Her words caught Aria mid-stride and impelled her to turn around again, eyeing Liselle with bright, vivid interest. "How do you know her?"

Liselle shrugged, timidly concealing the story behind their true first encounter. "I just... I just started talking to her when I visited Afterlife. She's been a good friend to me. If something happened to Anthya I want to be told about it." The weakness of her voice steeled by the time she finished speaking, even as her eyes glistened.

Aria and Zuria exchanged an uncertain glance, setting aside their recent confrontation to tacitly evaluate the situation. At the end of a few seconds spent within intense consideration, Aria made her decision.

"She might know something," she reasoned aloud. "All right, Liselle. You're coming with us. But no one else. Get that pilot out of there."

Liselle followed them to the skycar on shaky legs, watching as Aria informed their pilot to vacate the vessel for their privacy. Zuria took the empty driver's seat while Aria sat down beside her, leaving Liselle to the back row of seats where she sat down on the center cushion, aspiring to insert herself into their conversation rather than hide behind either of them during the ride. After the doors shut and the engine's hum grew from its idling murmur, Liselle activated her omni-tool to send her apologies to Daus and Malak for breaking her promise that she would return to them with news. They rose from the platform and merged into the currents of traffic.

The interior of the skycar was veiled in unsettling silence for a time. The lingering tension between her mother and Zuria seemed to make the air feel palpably heavier, and just as equally dismal. It was not unreasonable to believe that Aria desired to remove Zuria from her administration, if her anger was a reliable gauge for such judgments. But she could not do so. So few lieutenants and high-ranking officers remained alive, and after the incident with Anikot, Aria had become far too suspicious of those around her to appoint any replacements. At this point, Zuria's tenure was acquired and perpetuated solely through the commodity of trust.

Liselle pensively stared her hands where they rested in her lap, periodically glazed by rays of light penetrating the darkly-tinted windows, until she amassed enough courage to quietly ask, "Is she okay?"

She heard Aria irately exhale. Zuria was the one who answered her.

"Someone tried to kill her," she uneasily replied to Liselle. "But she's alive. She was..." Zuria paused to swallow and assemble her words. When she noticed Aria leering at her, she censored herself. "She has a broken vertebra. I had her sent to Havlon, and so far he's said that her spinal cord is intact, with little to no inflammation. She's expected to recover."

Liselle's heart withered in despair.

"He's the only one I trust with her," Aria distantly remarked. She temporarily turned her head to the side, not looking at Liselle directly, but gesturing that she was about to address her. "He's the only one I'd trust with you too, if it came to that. We need to visit Anthya. That's where we're going right now. Disregarding any personal investments in this she is a witness, and she's the only one to survive an assassination attempt carried out by our current enemy. Aside from myself of course, three times over now."

"Three times?" Liselle hollowly echoed.

"You think I got these injuries from falling down or something?" Aria asked her. She knew how she presently appeared. Many had already seen her, and it was far too late to conceal her face or retain any discretion.

Liselle was speechless for the remainder of the ride. She was overwhelmed by the waves of terrible news, and her pain for Anthya was particularly acute. How could anyone deal violence unto a person so kind and generous at heart, so gentle and forgiving? Liselle recited the question over and over in her mind, pleading why, why her? It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. Anthya hadn't deserved it. She deserved nothing but goodness in her life, yet now she lay hurt and sentenced to bedridden purgatory for an unknown tally of days. What transgression could have motivated the attack? Allegiance to Aria alone? It mattered not. She hadn't deserved it, Liselle grieved. She had not deserved it at all.

The three were quiet again for several minutes until Aria spoke to her lieutenant, issuing a flat statement that thickly belied its gravity. "Renaga's dead."

While both Zuria and Liselle stared at her in shock, only Zuria responded. "Goddess," she breathed. "I heard it didn't go well at the refinement plant, but... I never thought it went that badly." She immediately turned her attention back onto the skycar controls.

"I'll tell you more about Renaga later," said Aria. "Otherwise, a lot happened at the plant. My gunships were intercepted, the pilots killed, the ship CPUs hijacked, and placed back on their routes to kill us. And along with them they sent someone after me, meant for me specifically. The Council's Spectre."

"The Spectre? That asari from the cab a while back? I thought you killed her."

"She's been dead a while, but someone keeps bringing her back. I think we're on track to finding out how." Aria pressed a hand to the control panel, prompting the rear-view camera to display. She left it running to periodically ensure they weren't being followed. "After I killed the Spectre again, I had my engineers and a medic take a look at her. Parts of her were still organic; most of the brain, heart, lungs, about half of the bones. And the rest was comprised of geth parts."

"Geth?" Zuria repeated to clarify that she had heard correctly.

Aria nodded. "One of my engineers said that he'd heard black market rumors, but assumed they were only that—rumors—of deactivated geth platforms and parts being sold to wealthy tinkerers as no more than trophies or curiosities. There must be hunters or scavengers out there, skirting the edges of the Veil looking for old wreckage from the war between the geth and the quarians. I'm ordering an investigation, so we'll know soon. In addition to the geth, we found more armor prototypes in a maintenance tunnel I sent a dozen mercs through to search for possible escape routes the plant's occupants might have used to evade me. They lost the trail when the tunnel opened up into a larger complex linking several buildings together, but they brought back a pair of gloves. They're similar to what we found before, except this time, there were serial numbers on them. That means they're being mass produced, or shortly will come into production, possibly after they're done gathering data on this experimental phase. If there's a big company out there supplying this group..." She let her sentence fade, incomplete, but its insinuation remained perfectly intact. If a corporation alongside Drialus Lorhan was funding a takeover of Omega, Aria suspected that her syndicate might have met its match in the realm of wealth, and therefore resources as well. Total and unabashed war loomed on the horizon. "I want him, Zuria," she direly continued. "I want Lorhan."

"They'll know you're after him," she cautioned Aria. "They'll know you've made him a target. They'll be waiting for you. His towers are already as fortified as our own bunkers."

"I know. That's why it won't be me going after him." Aria met Zuria's eyes. "The syndicates and triads of Omega are steadily going extinct, one after another. The survivors will be the ones who ally themselves with me, who prove useful to me. With that incentive in mind, I have a few ideas as to how we'll get Lorhan. We'll need to use the Eclipse."

An elaboration was postponed for a later time. Their skycar had arrived at Havlon's well-guarded clinic; humble compared to the massive hospital Liselle had visited the previous day, but functional and impressively maintained nonetheless. They traversed the halls, following Aria's haste as she navigated through the posted mercenaries, medics, and corridors filled with equipment until they found Havlon awaiting them in front of a patient room.

"How is she?" Aria accosted him.

He handed her a datapad. "Finished the blood work. Sedative was a nonlethal dose so we let her recover from it without intervention. Admittedly, it made it easier to perform all the scans. Identified a fracture in the cervical spine—one vertebra. Put a brace around the neck to restrict movement until the injury heals. When she regained consciousness we ran her through a few movement tests to confirm the scan results. No spinal cord damage. She's awake at the moment."

Aria scrolled through the file as Havlon spoke. "I need to see her," she said.

"Right through here." Havlon pressed his hand to the room's door panel. The red display flickered to green and they poured into the opened room. Liselle, being at the rear of their company, was forced to strategically position herself to see Anthya over their shoulders.

Anthya lay in a white bed in an equally sterile white room, with the sea of pallid sheets drawn up to mid-waist where she was propped up by pillows. As Havlon had informed them, a brace thinly lined in comfortable, breathable fabric restricted her from moving her neck and possibly aggravating her injury. But darkness pooled and stained the skin beneath her eyes, framing them in the exhaustion of having recently emerged from unnatural sedation. Confined to solitude, Anthya was left to dolefully reflect on her traumatic experience.

Liselle had never seen Anthya so deeply depressed. It crushed her spirits. She yearned to rush to her side and provide any comfort she could, to endlessly and irrationally apologize to her, as if Liselle spoke on behalf of the cruel and uncaring universe that submerged so many lives in misery.

Anthya caught sight of her visitors, and Aria in particular. Her face became a beacon of recognition, growing emotional and relieved to see that Aria had come. She weakly lifted her arms to receive her beloved Queen, who had pulled a chair to her bedside. Anthya's relief only morphed into distress when she rested a hand against Aria's cheek, where she found her many cuts and bruises, soon to heal, but marring her face in evidence of a battle that might have taken her life. A delicate sob escaped her lips, pitifully mourning their awful situation while unable to comprehend how such harm had found them both, how anyone could be so malevolent as to hurt someone as beautiful and glorious as Aria.

Liselle could hear the pain in her trembling voice as she uttered affectionate things to Aria too quietly for anyone else to interpret. Aria was gentle when she eased her back against the pillows, pacifying her anguish for the sake of her health. She remained possessively close to her dancer even when she turned back to address their additional company.

"Leave, all of you," she firmly told them. "I need to talk to her alone."

They retreated without objection. The last sight Liselle caught before leaving the room along with the doctor and Zuria was of their hands; Anthya's had slipped into Aria's, desperately seeking her reassurance. Aria did not deny her that comfort.


:::


Liselle, like Zuria, was relegated to a short line of chairs outside Anthya's room while Aria conversed with her. For fifteen minutes they sat in silence, staring at the blank surfaces of the door and walls. Whenever Liselle stole glances to her left, she would find Zuria sitting erect with her hands lain upon her knees, tensely gripping them in disquiet, while her face had contracted a pale shade of green that revealed the illness pervading her body. Liselle could only surmise the guilt Zuria might have felt for allowing this to happen while Afterlife was under her supervision. It was good that they waited in a clinic, where Zuria had plentiful access to treatment if she happened to collapse or vomit from anxiety.

Meanwhile, Liselle fared just as badly, save for the nature of her despondency. She ached for everyone near her—Anthya, for her debilitating injury; Aria, for the compounded ordeals of having to fight for her life, losing her lieutenant, and nearly losing Anthya; and for Zuria, who carried the weight of responsibility and failure upon her faltering shoulders.

Several more minutes passed. Zuria's state did not improve. She only seemed greener and paler than she had before, tormenting herself without relent. Morbidly, Liselle wondered if Aria wished she had brought Zuria with her to the refinement plant while Renaga had guarded Afterlife instead, and she wondered if Zuria was considering the same grim supposition. Feeling immense sympathy for her, Liselle decided to speak, providing her a distraction from herself.

Liselle tentatively inquired, "Can you tell me more about what happened?"

Zuria expelled a fragile breath, turning her wide eyes upon the maiden. "I don't know if Aria would want me to say anything."

"I won't let her know. I promise."

The lieutenant's stare was maintained until she was able to muster the courage to speak. "Anthya was... she was hung, from maintenance, right below the VIP level. A bartender was also killed. Someone had... someone had wrapped a cable around Anthya's neck and dropped her down. That's how one of her vertebrae fractured. While one of the dancers on the platforms was able to cut her down fast, the bartender wasn't so fortunate. He fell all the way from maintenance to the lower level, and he died. We don't know what happened yet. Anthya was the only surviving witness."

Liselle's horror was apparent. "The bartender," she said with urgency. "What was his name?"

Zuria consulted her memory. "I... I think it was Kor-something. Korgath, Korgess. A batarian."

The maiden was on the cusp of erupting with an pained exclamation that she had known him, that Anthya had known him, and pitied her inevitable reaction upon finding out, when the door to Anthya's room opened. Aria stepped forward, looking no happier than she had before arriving at the clinic, and ran a speculative eye over both her lieutenant and her daughter. They were quieted by her presence.

Aria spoke, addressing Liselle. "She wants to see you," she said, sounding dubious of the message she relayed, but delivered it uncorrupted. "She saw you when we first entered the room and she told me that she'd like to talk to you."

Liselle never fathomed turning down the opportunity. When Aria stepped aside for her, leaving the doorway open and the room accessible for Liselle, she passed by her mother to find Anthya gazing at her, anticipating her company with a calmer aspect in her eyes than what had been present before, but retaining all her latent sorrows. The door shut behind her. Liselle carefully strode forward, breaching the sepulchral climate of the room before assuming the chair Aria had left at the bedside. She met Anthya's wet eyes. As with Aria, Anthya extended a hand to Liselle's, taking it into her own in search of interpersonal comfort. Liselle's throat felt unbearably tight. She couldn't speak. She parted her lips, trying to wrench out her verbal consolation, but no words left her.

Anthya gently stroked the back of Liselle's hand with a thumb, grateful for the simple pleasure of having the ability to do so, to see those persons who had grown dear to her over both long and short spans of time. Finally, she spoke to void their silence. "Would you like anything here?" she asked Liselle, gesturing to a small cart where a meal had been brought to her. Several items were missing from the tray. "I offered some to Aria earlier," Anthya commented, a tiny smile coming to rest on her lips. "Judging by how she looked, it was no wonder she was starving. Using her biotics must have really taken a toll on her. So much that she deigned to hospital food."

Liselle shook her head and quietly replied, "No thank you."

They were quiet for nearly another minute. When Anthya spoke up again, the semblance of mirth had faded from her voice and face. She sounded like a doomsayer. "This isn't a normal war, Liselle," she began. "Aria's fighting an enemy she can't see, can't find, can't even name. It's not conventional. Instead of gathering their forces and meeting ours to directly battle it out, they're going after the most important people in Aria's administration, her allies, people useful to her, and the ones she cares for. I've realized what they're trying to do to her. They're trying to drive her mad. They're trying to take everything away from Aria so her anger will start controlling her. That's where she'll start making mistakes. Now I know why it's unwise to let other people know that you've gotten close to Aria T'Loak." Anthya paused a moment, tightening her fingers around the maiden's in spite of the strength sapped from her body. "And you, Liselle... I know you're important to her. I just hope—truly hope—that no one comes after you, like they did me." A few fresh tears glided down Anthya's cheeks, traversing the curve of her jaw and beading against the brace about her neck.

Liselle respectfully remained silent, attentively listening to her account.

"When you left Aria alone with me," Anthya continued, "I told her everything I could remember. It was Bothan Korgess, Liselle. He... I followed him up there, willingly. I remember him stabbing me with something when I turned my back. A needle, in my neck. I tried to fight back but it happened too fast. I fell. I was awake, barely, but I couldn't move. I remember Bothan dragging me along into this cramped duct overlooking the club. He pulled out one of the sections of the floor, wrapped an electrical cable around my throat. And... he said to me that he was sorry. He said he was sorry that this had to happen, and he hoped I could forgive him one day, in the next life, in the afterlife. Then he pushed me out. But I brought him with me. You see, years ago Aria taught me something about biotics. If you're good, you can finely manipulate cords of energy with gestures, like an extension of your nervous system. And if you're really good, you don't need to move at all. I was conscious enough to try. I managed to pull Bothan out of the duct with me and mitigate my own fall with a lift. Just enough to survive. I remember seeing him fall, smashing against the side of one of the catwalks before hitting the bar. Then the cable around me went taut. I heard a crack in my neck. I couldn't breathe; the cable was too tight. I just... I just remember hanging there in front of Aria's lounge, knowing she wasn't there, and praying the lieutenant was. But she wasn't. Right before I blacked out I felt myself being lifted again, biotically, toward the platforms. I'm told that Irsmeni was the one who cut me down." She managed to let out a soft breath of amusement. "I owe her my life, as much as I owe Aria."

"Holy shit," Liselle quietly breathed, hardly exceeding a whisper in volume. "He must have been the one who messed with Olat Dar'nerah! He must have taken care of the evidence before Aria got to him! But... how could he do that to you? And what could he have said to convince you to follow him up there?"

Shame rose to the surface of Anthya's features. "Bothan, he... He told me that he wanted to see me, in private, and... I interpreted it as an invitation."

"Anthya," said Liselle, her voice breaking. She sniveled, lifting a hand to her face in horror as she felt a surge of responsibility for the image her mind cruelly painted: Anthya dangling in front of the lounge's wide window, martyred, terribly alone and helpless with the pillar of hologram advertisements edging her limp body in magenta light. "I should have told you yesterday," she cried, "I had so many opportunities to say something and I didn't!"

"What are you talking about, Liselle?"

"Bothan wasn't interested in females. So I doubt he was interested in asari either."

Seeing that Liselle had begun to weep, Anthya released her hand to place hers upon the girl's cheek. "Liselle, it's okay. I'm sure he would've found another way to lure me up there. I liked him too much." She brushed Liselle's tears away, sounding distraught herself. "It's my fault alone. I got too close to him, told him too many things, told him how close I was to Aria... I let him identify me as a target. I should have never strayed from Aria. I should've never went looking for someone else. I wanted his attention because I knew that... I knew that Aria didn't love me as much as I did her, and I wanted it so much that I went out searching for something to fill that void, but it was so stupid of me. So stupid of me." She looked away from Liselle, despairing as she gazed out at her room. "I would do anything for Aria. Anything. Maybe if I had loved her more this wouldn't have happened to me."

Liselle looked upon the dancer in dismayed bewilderment at the conclusion she had drawn. The nuances of mature relationships might have been unfamiliar to her, and she was certainly in no position to analyze them, but she was aware and insightful enough to detect the glaring flaws in Anthya's logic. "Anthya," she softly said to her, beside herself with shock. "That's... irrational. This isn't a punishment for not loving Aria. This isn't your fault. It's Bothan's." Anthya peered at Liselle as if she had been the one more so out of her mind. The look severely alarmed Liselle, prompting her to continue. "You're just not thinking straight right now... Something really terrible happened and you only need to rest a bit..."

"You don't understand," Anthya said. "Aria's done everything for me. Given me everything anyone could rightfully ask for. Whenever I keep near her I'm protected, I'm happy, and I... and I have meaning. And without her, things like this happen. It's as simple as that. You'll see what I mean one day." Her voice wavered, grown significantly dour, but she opened again with a new matter to address. "Liselle... I also have something I wanted to tell you, too. Something I need to tell you. And I'm sorry, Liselle, I'm so sorry for doing this to you. I know I've made a friend of you, but... but it wasn't my original aim. When I learned that you were someone important, someone close to Aria, I thought to befriend you because I hoped that you might speak highly of me to her. I used you, Liselle, and I'm so sorry for it. But please believe me when I say that I truly did enjoy your companionship. You're such a delightful girl and you didn't deserve to be lied to. I needed to tell you. I'm so sorry, Liselle, I really hope we can still be friends, and I hope you don't hate me for this, but I understand if you do."

She was heartbroken. Liselle certainly did not hate Anthya for it, but she felt the betrayal like needles in her chest, pitilessly piercing her with supreme dejection. What she had once regarded as her first genuine close friendship had been shattered in an instant, and it would take no small amount of time and effort to reassemble the pieces. But Liselle's personal devastation was not the only thing plaguing her. The lengths to which Anthya went to please Aria, to obtain her love, were not healthy by any standard. So grand and divine was the image of the Queen in her mind that she had assigned fault for the incident to the fact that she had not loved her enough, and therefore placed herself in a position vulnerable to punishment. She was consumed by Aria, completely, and it wrought havoc on her life, evinced by the sheen of her eyes, tears glistening down her cheeks; penitent and guilt-ridden in nature.

How long had Anthya lived within this corrosive mentality, and more importantly, why had Aria allowed it to persist as it had? Aria was frighteningly perceptive. This was not something that would slip her notice. No. Aria had known all along, and she consciously enabled it.

Anthya needed help. Liselle only found ironic and perhaps distasteful consolation in the knowledge that Anthya would be unable to see Aria for some time. The maiden prayed that she would be able to use her period of convalescence to reflect upon her perceptions and possibly mend her own psyche, but if she didn't, Liselle firmly resolved to intervene. It was clear to her that no one else would.

She spent the remainder of her visit with Anthya assuring her that there was no animosity between them, and that Liselle would instead stop by soon to bring her flowers, or a treat, or send her some of her favorite e-books to dispel any monotony she would suffer. All while taking great care to conceal her lasting hurt, so that Anthya might peacefully rest a while, removed from the echo of her wrongs.

When Liselle emerged from the room she found Zuria awaiting her. Aria had left as soon as she obtained the information she needed from Anthya, leaving Zuria behind to escort Liselle home and to relay a message for her, phrased diligently within the walls of the clinic, "Aria says to expect company when you return to your apartment, around an hour from now. Someone important."


:::


While waiting for the described important someone, which had translated easily into Aria herself, Liselle occupied herself with finishing her morning task of tidying her kitchenette. The mindless work helped keep her hands busy and her mind empty, and ultimately, her unease at a relative and manageable minimum. She scrubbed her sink spotless, but was so determined to repel complex thought that she went over it again, until the metals shone pristinely.

Her door opened an hour into her cleaning, producing Aria just as predicted. She had taken the time to wash herself of old blood and Omegan grime, now appearing remarkably healthier, yet her shallow cuts and the small bruise on her cheekbone would remain indelible over the course of several days. Liselle dropped the contents of her hands into the sink to greet her with silence, discreetly wiping the beads of water and soap away on her thighs. Her eyes lowered to something carried in Aria's hand. A black plastic bag, unassuming and all the more striking because of it.

They sat down at her table, quieted by the tumultuous day. Whatever Aria intended to tell her was delayed for when she was ready, following a period of austere rumination, during which she folded her legs beneath the table, folded her hands atop it, and stared into space.

Liselle, on the other hand, had her grievances prepared. With Anthya freshly on her mind, and with Aria accessible and her attention obligated to her daughter for a time, Liselle inhaled slowly, deeply, as if drawing vaporous courage into herself.

"You should treat Anthya better," she said.

Aria's eyes flicked to hers, torn away from their pensive stare. She regarded her without perceivable reaction, but when she responded, her offense leaked through her tone. "You want me to treat Anthya better?"

The maiden hardened her gaze.

Hands disengaged for fingers to tap themselves on the table between them. Aria calmly assembled a reply. "So you want me to treat Anthya better, beyond everything I already give her? Obscenely lax working hours without reducing her pay, limitless free drinks, housing already paid in full, and my personal protection? And you think I'm wrong in not giving her more?"

"I know you have a... relationship," Liselle told her. "I know it's hurting her."

She stopped tapping her fingers. "I'm not going to ask how you found that out. But your advisement has no place here, Liselle. Do not advise me on a matter you know nothing about. How Anthya reacts to me is her decision alone, not mine. Not once have I ever forced her to do anything, to think anything, or to feel anything in specific. She's an adult, Liselle. She can make her own judgments."

"But you're hundreds of years older than her, and you know way better what's going on, what you're doing to her—"

"I will not talk about my personal life with you," Aria resolutely stopped her, exasperated by her prying. "That's not why I'm here. I'm here for something far more important. Recent events, discoveries we've made just today, about what's out there and what might happen in the future, have forced my hand in making certain plans and arrangements if the very worst comes to pass. I'm not saying that I expect to lose. Not at all. But even I've been wrong in past, and the situation warrants that I take a few actions in countermeasure." She retrieved a tablet from the low partition separating the kitchenette from the front room, slipping out its stylus to begin writing a few lines in a blank document. When she finished, she turned the tablet in Liselle's direction, placing it on the table so she could read the contact information. Aria pointed to the tablet and continued speaking, arresting Liselle's attention anew, along with her confusion. "If in the highly unlikely case that the worst does come to pass and you find yourself in need of aid or asylum... I want you to contact the current asari councilor and tell her who you are. If I'm gone, she'll be the only one you can trust with your identity. She will help you. Tell no one else, Liselle. No one."

She was stunned, opening her mouth several times but no words ever came out, until she cast a bewildered look at her mother, found her voice, and inquired, "Why would a councilor help us?"

"It would be too complicated to explain," said Aria, sounding remote. "And you've never known asari politics. This is far more commonplace than you would think."

Still confounded and surprised, Liselle asked nothing more and copied the information to her omni-tool. She hid it well and labeled it ambiguously. Once she had finished, Aria lifted the black bag she brought with her, placing it on the table and retrieving the contents from its depths. "My second order of business," she stated, "is giving you these." She laid the items out for Liselle: a leather-bound booklet and a holodisk.

Liselle recognized them immediately.

She reached out in caution, as if wary of the possibility that Aria might be so wicked as to rescind her offer if she did not seize custody of the items in time. After she had taken them, Liselle brought them down into her lap where she beheld them, fascinated. She opened the booklet in haste, flipping through the pages to find them punctuated by numerous rough edges where entries had been torn out. Evidently, Aria had already thoroughly dissected Samesia's belongings and censored them as she felt appropriate. But at this point Liselle cared very little. So much information was now held in her hands. Information about her early childhood, from what she gleaned while watching the words flicker by her eyes. She wanted to cry, but held back her tears to ask her mother, "Why are you giving me this?"

Aria was forced to withdraw into her thoughts to retrieve a truthful answer. Her full story was truncated time and time again, edited to its bare bleached bones after being stripped of all concerns revolving around mortality and contingency. She softly exhaled when her answer was ready, and delivered it simply, "Because it matters to you."

Liselle beamed. She pushed herself up from her chair, rounded the table, and wrapped her arms around Aria, mindful of her injuries while muttering thank you into her shoulder. Aria peeled her away when Liselle inadvertently agitated the wound at her side, protected by bandaging but still very much vulnerable to pressure. She instead held Liselle's shoulders tenderly and said to her, "Liselle... I'm not giving you everything you asked of me. I won't do that, ever, and my reasons are my own. But I'm giving you, in there, everything I'm willing to." She tapped the booklet held in her daughter's hand with an index finger. "Everything I think you have the right to know without causing harm to yourself or to me. And when you're done with that, Liselle, you need to destroy it. Don't hide it under your mattress, don't put it in a box and store it in your closet, don't even lock it away in a safe. I want you to burn it. Do you understand me?"

A reluctant nod was given. While Liselle greatly preferred that she keep the booklet for future reference, she understood the reason behind Aria's command. Any physical evidence of her parentage was a deadly liability, and no matter how precious a possession might have been, no trinket or bit of paper was worth either of their lives.

"And don't ever forget, Liselle; by keeping this for so long, Samesia Trakas has committed a serious crime against us. One I will never absolve her for. I know you feel strongly about her death and I understand. But you can't let that fact slip your mind. She put you in danger for fifty years." Aria stroked her thumb against Liselle's shoulder, keeping their gazes locked together until the girl made a sign that indicated her comprehension. Once she had, Aria released her, but not without first issuing a reminder, "Burn it, Liselle. Nothing less."

"I will," she promised.

Aria left her then, rising from her seat and allowing her fingers to brush down her arms in a subtle display of affection, before she turned, made for the door, and departed without another word. The moment Liselle found herself alone, her fingers stumbled against the covers of the booklet, clumsily prying it open with such vigor and excitement that she nearly dropped it. She flipped to the first page while dashing to her room, taking the holodisk with her, and sat down at the edge of her bed where she began reading the entries jotted onto each page in a brisk, clear hand:

.

17.5.2027
Aria scheduled, or rather ordained, an appointment with me today. I believe her exact words were, "Get it out of me. Now." I sympathize with her situation, I do. How much she must fear the outcome of this, since it wouldn't contribute to the health of her organization in any form. If anything, it would only be deleterious. Although I understood her distress and urge to take drastic action, I advised her to seriously contemplate her options. The procedure, especially when performed just weeks after conception, poses the most danger. I told her of the risks: possible nerve damage, future infertility, and even paralysis or death in worst cases. Our bodies just weren't meant for this procedure. We generally never needed it. I didn't tell her, but I feel that this entire ordeal is a product of recklessness and poor judgement. She knew she was compromising her agency. And for what? It wasn't worth it, it really wasn't. And now she could potentially die or end up in a wheelchair for the rest of her life if this procedure goes awry. Where does that put the rest of us? I'm very apprehensive. I'm not sure how we're going to handle this.

20.5.2027
Aria has made it clear time and time again that she doesn't want to have this baby. She doesn't want to carry to term, nor does she want it due to its... disagreeable parentage. But behind all her invective and adamancy to go through with the procedure I keep seeing glimpses of something I can only characterize as fear within her. I think she's very concerned about the risks I forewarned her about. Of course she'll never admit to it, but privately, Aria truly does fear injury and death. I think she's starting to weigh her options. There are ways we can go about this while preserving utmost secrecy. I should make a list of viable alternatives she could take instead of aborting the pregnancy.

2.6.2027
I showed Aria my list of ideas. If she decides to go through with the pregnancy, we could explain her absence from Omega by feigning illness. It's not the most ideal cover, but it would work. After that, what she does with the baby is completely her choice. I highly recommend sending her off Omega for adoption, but Aria frowned and dismissed the idea. I think she detests the notion of some anonymous stranger rearing her own flesh and blood. Aria could also keep the infant for herself, but that would involve a tremendous amount of coordination and work if she's to raise her on Omega. The child would require caretakers, tutors, pediatricians, bodyguards, biotic mentors... It would be a nightmare, and even more so to keep everyone quiet about it. I listed a third solution. One that honestly chills me. Aria could relinquish the infant to me upon birth, and I could, in theory, very quickly and cleanly obviate the problem through euthanasia, if I might use that term in place of less delicate ones. The child would feel no pain, no suffering, and we could all simply forget that any of this ever happened.

8.6.2027
Aria made a decision today. It wasn't her complete decision, but at least it was something. She wants to go through with the pregnancy. What she'll want to do with the baby afterward is anyone's guess, but at least she has about eighteen more months to figure it out. For now, she's still out running with her mercenaries whenever she feels the need and she'll continue doing so for as long as she can, until she starts showing. Although it might be worth mentioning that I haven't seen a drink or a cigarette in her hand since the day she found out. Aria needs to keep her options open, I'm sure.

13.6.2027
This morning was Aria's first checkup appointment with me. I did blood work, asked her how she was feeling, both physically and emotionally. She wasn't of much help when I asked her those questions, but her blood work seems normal and healthy. She only has another month before she'll have to retire from all forms of combat, and from her lounge in Afterlife as well. We can't risk anyone noticing or suspecting. Aria is frustrated by this, referring to it as a prison sentence, but she's going through with it out of necessity.

4.7.2027
I'm still in shock from the news but... today Aria decided to keep the baby. She's already begun making arrangements, compiling dossiers for potential caretakers and guards. She's refrained from telling me her reasons, but I believe she has a long-term goal in mind. Maybe Aria recognized this as an opportunity to produce an heir, someone to inherit Omega and her fortunes while perpetuating her name. This could be the beginning of an entire dynasty, if everything works out well.

7.7.2027
Aria's been surprisingly content ever since she made her decision. She admitted that she never expected she'd become a parent. I think the idea is growing on her, slowly. Maybe it's the hormones—that tends to happen, from my experience in maternal care. Or maybe it's just Aria being Aria, ever pragmatic about opportunity.

18.7.2027
I've been helping her screen candidates for caretakers over the past week, but she's grown pensive lately, keeping to herself most of the time, saying just a few words each day to the point where her voice nearly sounds hoarse when she dismisses her commandos. Yesterday I caught her perusing an extranet site. Baby clothes. Her jaw was stiff and she looked intense, as if the sight of those tiny garbs challenged her, intimidated her. I've never seen her so apprehensive about anything, but she's entirely devoted. She's risen to the occasion.

5.8.2027
We've decided on a caretaker staff. There's twelve people in total, including myself, who will be employed in raising her daughter. Plus a biotic tutor some day, bringing the ultimate total to thirteen. Iaera Kasantis seemed an unlikely candidate at first, for the position of the baby's main caretaker. I thought Aria would prefer to keep her siphoning intelligence from the Traverse, but Iaera has some experience in mothering. She once had two daughters, but both died as children from a rare inherited genetic disorder, poor things. Iaera never tried having children again. But Aria interviewed her and found her suitable for the job (I have to wonder if she arranged this on purpose). I hope this experience will ease some of the pain Iaera might carry from losing her biological offspring. A mother is still a mother, whether she lives on Thessia or Omega.

12.9.2027
Aria named her baby today. "Liselle". It's a pretty name—a cute name, I'd think, albeit a bit removed from what I expected from Aria. Not because it's cute, necessarily, but because it was chosen affectionately, with a preconceived notion of what her daughter will be once she's born. It's a name given by someone who loves its recipient.

.

Liselle encountered the stubs of many missing pages. Entire months were absent from the booklet, torn out by Aria to obliterate them from record and Liselle's awareness. In her mounting impatience and engrossment, Liselle flipped past the sparse, stripped entries where many had been weeded out, jumping ahead to the final pages of the booklet to see where Samesia's records ended.

.

14.6.2029
Liselle's healthy. That's what seems to matter most to Aria these days. Today while I was giving Liselle her periodic checkup she fussed to no end and remained inconsolable until Aria picked her up and had me finish while she held her. I never would've thought Aria would be so natural a mother. She always seems to know exactly what Liselle wants when she cries. She knows how to hold her, how to calm her, and how to get her to fall asleep within minutes. Not even Iaera can compete with her when she takes care of the girl. It's a pity that Aria will have me destroy all my records in a few years. It'll be hard to part with them. But they won't be completely lost. Aria wants copies of the holodisks for herself, and only herself, and I'm to provide them.

20.12.2029
Liselle's personality has been blooming lately, becoming more apparent with every passing week. She's a needy child. She's been that way ever since she was born. It might be presumptuous at this point, but I'm growing inclined to start taking more detailed notes of behavioral patterns. I think the diagnosis of an emotional disorder might be within the near future, but I need to make sure it's not just a developmental phase she's going through. Aria won't be happy to hear my suspicion. And I honestly feel like she exacerbates the problem at times. Liselle cries, a lot and over small things, and when Aria's around she always answers her instead of denying Liselle when appropriate. She loves her baby, but she's being too indulgent. Liselle is learning that crying to her mother will always get her what she wants, and that's not good behavior to reinforce. And Aria's frequent absence only makes Liselle more difficult for Iaera to handle. The girl wants her mother, always, and no one else seems to suffice.

.

The rest of the pages were missing. Liselle had not read all of them, and there were many more to study, but the mention of the holodisk she possessed redirected her attention to its presence beside her on the bed. She scooped it up in her hand, approached her monitor, and inserted it into the small drive. After retreating back to the edge of the bed where she perched herself upon it in anticipation, Liselle watched as the monitor flickered and suspended the shimmering hologram image within its borders.

The first images of the vid were of measuring tape being manipulated and held by whoever was simultaneously capturing the recording. The field of view lifted, bringing the unmistakable outline of Aria into its frame, but her jacket was absent and in its place was an unremarkable black undershirt, drawn up to her ribs to reveal her abdomen, which carried a swell humble enough to be overlooked if she was only spared a quick glance, but when scrutinized for any longer than a few seconds, it would be obvious to anyone remotely familiar with asari reproduction that she was with child. Aria held herself as proudly as ever, showing no visible sign of inconvenience while appearing expectant of her doctor's evaluation.

"Two centimeters more since last time," said a voice—Samesia's. She was noting the change on a tablet. "Smaller than average, but still within a healthy range. What are you going to do when you get large enough that your back starts hurting?"

Aria scoffed. "Fuck you. I'd still kick your ass and throw you around any day of the week." Fortunately for Samesia, humor lightly fringed her tone. She turned away from her, seeming to grow pensive as she gripped the edges of the shirt hiked up over her stomach and eased it back down, where her hand remained against the gradual slope. There was an faint aspect of tenderness in the way she brushed her fingertips over herself while returning her shirt to its normal fit, lingering there as if greeting and examining the warmth that emanated from her flesh.

The brief clip ended, but transitioned into another with just a second's pause of darkness separating them.

Liselle heard Samesia's voice before she was even able to interpret the events or whereabouts of the current scene. "There she is," Samesia said. There was breathless excitement in her voice. "Here's Liselle."

She turned the omni-tool's camera, framing the sight of Aria propped up in bed, looking weary but otherwise functionally lucid. Her newborn was cradled in her arms, wrapped in a clean white blanket and held to her breast as she nursed her. The moisture and redness in Aria's eyes causing her to appear on the verge of tears was particularly jarring, brought on by the compounded effects of exhaustion and a flood of maternal hormones pounding through her veins, to which not even she was impervious. It would forever be a mystery as to what cognitions she had entertained at that depicted moment. She looked like hell, but there was a subtle quality in her features disclosing a mixture of relief and the perplexing delirium of finding her womb suddenly bereft and her arms now filled in balancing compensation.

"How do you feel?" Samesia asked Aria, sounding curious and intent on understanding her outlandish cocktail of emotions.

Aria shook her head, maintaining a crease her in brow as she shared the inexplicable truth, "Like I want to get pregnant again, immediately. Even if it's the very last thing I'd actually ever want." She seemed patently disturbed by her own nonsensically swirling instincts.

"Every first-time asari mother reacts a bit differently. I've heard stranger things before. It's perfectly normal and should pass within a few hours. For now I'd just advise some rest; it might be a long night. The first ones tend to be."

"Wonderful," Aria dryly replied, turning back to her daughter to brush away and tuck in a loose corner of the blanket beginning to intrude upon the infant's face.

"So, for the record," Samesia began again, "Liselle was born about twenty minutes ago... Aria had an easy birth, no complications, mostly just discomfort. She took fantastic care of herself during her pregnancy and it's paying off."

"Not one glass, not one cigar, not one dessert," Aria clarified the extent of her self-discipline.

"How long do you think you were in labor?" Samesia asked her. "I only arrived about an hour ago."

Aria looked at her, sifting through her bleary thoughts to recall the day. "I honestly wasn't watching any clocks, but I'd estimate about four or five hours. But I knew it'd be today. I knew since this morning."

"You knew she was coming?"

She calmly nodded, confident in her claim.

Samesia could be heard flipping through some notes. "Let's see," she continued, "Liselle was a little underweight. She might grow up to be a bit on the small side, or it may not have much bearing on her adult stature at all. But she's perfectly healthy otherwise. She has all her fingers and toes, and the fronds of her crest are symmetrical and should grow into place well. In my professional opinion, the circumstances at the time of conception haven't resulted in any defects that I've been able to detect."

Aria allowed a long exhale to depart her, then stated quietly and profoundly, "If I had fucked her up... I don't even know what the hell I would've done." She gazed down at her daughter again, gently easing her away from her breast before offering her the other, to relieve one side of her chest and equally distribute the mild discomfort. She softly ran her knuckles against the side of Liselle's face, swept up by the chemicals and stimuli of her motherhood as she looked upon her baby with protective, devoted affection. Her love was easily descried, endless and dominating all other processes within her mind.

The vid ended, transitioning into yet another taken many months later. It was in one of the apartments where Liselle had spent the earliest years of her childhood. One of the bedrooms was identified as the location of the vid, and within the frame stood Aria, hunched over enough to grasp the hands of her daughter, who wobbled upon her feet as she attempted to stand and stride upon them autonomously. Aria helped walk her forward, periodically glancing over her shoulder to ensure that Samesia was still recording the milestone in Liselle's life. At one point she released her hands, letting the little girl try the difficult feat on her own. A step was taken on tiny feet clad in dark blue socks, then another, but her short journey ended when she faltered. Before Liselle tumbled onto the carpeting she was enveloped by a pale blue glow, catching her mid-fall and placing her back upon her feet. Aria took her hands, steadied her, and allowed her to try again.

This time, when Liselle was freed from the balance her mother provided, she eagerly strode forward two steps, then two more. She swayed, but did not fall. Upon realizing the utility of her new skill, Liselle turned, faced Aria again, and started smiling excitedly. Aria knelt before her, uttering praise as she kissed the girl on her cheek and gathered her into her arms again. When she lifted her from the floor, however, Liselle spontaneously began to protest, squirm, and reach downward with her hands, yearning to resume her brave paces.

The holodisk reached the end of its recordings, leaving Liselle to sit before the blanked monitor in a thoughtful daze, breathing deeply while her eyes had grown wet. Before she could even begin to wrap her mind around all the information she had been exposed to, the monitor abruptly came to life again with text accompanied by narration: "Liselle Kasantis, identification confirmed," the computer reported. "View encrypted files?"

Liselle was surprised by the message. Apparently, Samesia had left something behind on the disk reserved for Liselle's eyes alone, and the fact that its existence was only revealed when played in her presence meant that Aria had not likely been aware of it, and therefore was denied the chance to review and censor it. That Samesia had hidden it away even from Aria alarmed Liselle, but not nearly enough to deter her from viewing the guarded vid.

"Yes," she said, "Play."

At her command Liselle was shown the hidden files. She was introduced to a vid of significantly lesser quality than the previous ones, for a reason Liselle could only guess was due to a different recording device. She could see the blurry, slightly-pixelated outlines of furniture populating an apartment's front room entrance, and the kitchen lied beyond. Light was seeping in from the window above the sink.

There was an audible commotion muddying the already degraded sound quality. Iaera emerged from the hallway, coming into view while carrying a very young Liselle, who was clumsily waving her arms about as she tried to pivot herself around to curiously investigate the source of the rising din. Over the baby's unique language of small gurgled sounds Iaera paused to inform Samesia, while apparently unaware that she was being filmed, "I'm taking her out for a bit, but I think you'd better stay. This doesn't look good."

"Understood. Don't go too far, though."

"I won't," replied Iaera. She then sweetly turned to Liselle, trying to quell her fussing by telling her, "We're going for a little walk outside, okay, Liselle?"

They left, leaving Samesia in the front room as she continued recording the indistinct voices carrying through the hall and reaching her position. Liselle was only able to make out certain words.

"What the fuck, Aria?" she heard. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I told you to tell no one! No one!"

While Liselle was unable to assign an identity to the first voice, she had heard the second so often that the pace of speech and inflections allowed her to instantly recognize it as Aria's.

"I only told her that I had a daughter and her name was Liselle! I hadn't seen her in—"

"I said no one! She's my daughter and I told you to say nothing that could—"

The sound quality dropped for a time, rendering a few seconds completely incoherent. When the audio recovered, it remained choppy for a time.

"Why are you so damn paranoid... bit excessive for an accident... We were on some ugly shit, evil shit—"

"Shut your fucking mouth! I don't want you ever coming within five kilometers of her again, and if you ever do—"

Again, the voices were begrimed by electronic corruption.

"...didn't have a problem when you were slapping me in the face, telling me harder—"

The sentence was cut short by two loud thuds and a shout.

"You're a fucking psychopath! You're sick, you're fucking sick—!"

Another thud, imbued by the hallmark rippling of biotics. There came a shriek and additional sounds of biotics that indicated an attempt had been made in defense. More struggling commenced for several seconds until a bang jolted both Samesia and the modern Liselle. It hadn't been a gunshot, but the sound of a body smashing against a wall, seeming to rattle the entire apartment. Liselle strained to hear the voices arise again, diminished to conceal what was said, but loud enough for her to identify their nature as gasps of pain and surrender. When they too ceased completely, there was silence.

Aria's outline emerged from the hall, pausing only to acknowledge that Samesia remained. Her forearms were bloodied, smeared generously in violet. She said nothing, turning toward the kitchen where she composedly ventured. Water ran into the sink, and Aria began washing her hands and arms clean. When she had finished, Aria dried herself and lifted a hand to her communicator. "Iaera," she said, speaking as if nothing of consequence had transpired. "You can bring her back in now." While she waited, Aria leaned forward against the sink, resting on her arms as she gazed through the window and idly crossed her legs.

Iaera returned within a minute. She strode past the field of view and into the kitchen where she transferred Liselle to the waiting arms of her mother, who took her, rested her head against her shoulder, and held her close. Liselle's bright eyes rested on Samesia, and her stare was met by that of her future self, peering into the past. Pacified and comforted by her mother's embrace, the young Liselle's eyes gradually dimmed, facilitated further when Aria lightly swayed and bounced on her heels, gently producing motion that would send her off into sleep. Aria said sweet things to her daughter, stating almost with reverence that Liselle was the only innocent creature left on Omega, and would remain that way if Aria could exert control over such things.

Once Liselle was soundly asleep in her arms, Aria spoke to Samesia softly as to not wake the girl, "Clean up the mess in the bedroom. You'll probably need to get her to a surgeon. I think she'll live, but if she doesn't, I honestly couldn't care less."

The recording ended, but spared a shocked and horrified Liselle not a moment of reflection before it cut once again.

This time Liselle could enjoy a vid of a vastly superior quality than the previous furtive one. It depicted a couch set against a wall, with the fronds of a potted plant encroaching upon the field of view at the very left corners. Samesia Trakas stepped in front of her mounted camera, alive and well. She took a seat on the couch before extending a hand to adjust her recording device, bringing herself squarely and professionally in the center of the captured frames. She drew in a measured breath, gathering her nerves, and spoke. "Hello, Liselle. My name is Doctor Samesia Trakas, and the current year is 2053, so you should be around twenty-five years of age at this time. I was the one who monitored your mother throughout her pregnancy and acted as your pediatrician until you were about eight years old. Once you turned four I saw you seldom, so I doubt you remember much of me. After I stopped being your doctor, your mother transferred me to the Eclipse as a medic, along with several other capable physicians as a sign of concord between her and Jona Sederis. As you've likely noticed by now, I've kept copies of the records Aria once ordered me to destroy. I did this because I wanted insurance. That was my original intention. I wanted a weapon to use against Aria if she ever tried to kill me... like she did so many others, Liselle. There were twelve of us when you were born. Now there's only six, and that number is still diminishing, and might be close to zero by the time you see this recording. That weapon, for my defense... It would've been you. The threat of your capture. Perhaps even your death."

Samesia paused, growing immensely contrite and forcing herself to continue her confession. "And I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. It's taken me years to realize that I'd be no better than Aria to use you like this, so selfishly. You've done nothing wrong, Liselle. How could I ever sacrifice an innocent child to preserve my own life? I was... I was simply terrified of her. I was ready to do whatever I needed to survive, but not like this. I was wrong, I was so wrong in thinking this could be my solution. So, instead... I hope to bring this to you one day. I plan to find you once you're sixty. A child, but... but mature enough to see and understand the importance of my records, plus the two I made unbeknownst to Aria. I had to compress and embed the extra vids in another file so Aria wouldn't notice and try to decrypt them. I needed to make sure these would get to you intact. I needed you to see the deaths of some of the staff, the way Aria nearly murdered your father that day... You need to know what she does. And I know it hurts, I know it's not easy. But you need to know the truth. I wish you the very best, Liselle. It was a delight to be a part of your life. I hope that someday we might meet again, so I can see the proud and confident person you've grown into. Goodbye."


:::


After a long night spent huddled beneath her sheets, reading through Samesia's booklet multiple times and watching the vids again an equal amount, chiseling their contents deeply into the walls of her memory, Liselle brought them to her small fireplace fitted with false logs and embers made from concrete, gently laid down her items upon them with the solemnity of a funeral pyre, and turned a small dial on the wall. Jets of blue and red flame ignited the steady influx of gas, wrapping around the holodisk and booklet and cradling them in destruction. Liselle sat down before the fireplace, drawing a blanket around her frame as she watched the disk melt and drip onto the concrete while the pages of the booklet curled and blackened. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

She didn't know what to feel. Malaise ate at her. She felt loved and comforted, yet alone and deceived all at once, constantly, eternally, arising from all corners of her life.

Liselle now knew something about her parentage that she hadn't before. She had been borne not from love, but from hatred; a closeness incited by the medium of drugs that had stripped minds of sober intolerance and essentially forced a child upon her mother. One she hadn't wanted, one she had initially despised by blood and burden alone. At one point in time her existence had precariously teetered on the very tip of a knife. But in the end, Aria had kept her and loved her with everything she was. That mended her wounds, but an echo still remained, haunting her, following her into oblivion.

Child of hatred, she whispered in her head as the smell of burning leather filled her nose. The dawn of the next day was approaching, but she retired to bed where she slept restlessly, visited by nightmares of frightening insect species who devoured their mates alive, and the face of one who she prayed wasn't her father.