Chapter 35
Unlocking forgotten memories
Taleron reached the questioning room and waved at the guards before he was at the door. He was more than excited about this meeting. When he arrived, his Commander of the guards, Voran, left and nodded at Taleron. "Everything prepared!" Taleron dismissed him with a wave and smiled wickedly.
Two of his usual assistants for such questionings were present in the room and had already prepared everything under Vorans command. Before their master appeared, it was always necessary to secure everything. They had frisked Kai for weapons, and of course, they had found the brace. Hadn´t Kai been so heavily bond, he would have used this opportunity to show them the functionality of the brace. But with his arm fastened strongly onto the table, he wasn´t able to move one muscle. They extracted the brace from the organic halter after some struggle and together with his jacket it landed somewhere in the back on a table.
Then they had started with their order to inject the truth serum into his system…well, this was a less successful story.
Then Taleron entered the room.
The Biovesir had closed his eyes briefly in excitement when the doors behind him closed and he saw his prisoner.
Slowly he approached the table Kai was tied to.
There he was.
The man most feared on the Cluster, maybe except by His Divine Shadow and Brizon. The man who was the true personification of death under His Shadows reign. The man whose number of victims was terrifying unbelievable. Hadn´t he regained his true self in the meantime – Taleron had liked him very much for that – Taleron was very attracted to well functioning and effective assassins or soldiers. And besides that, this guy hadn´t lost his attractiveness over the past thousand years. He was still the same…well, almost.
As proof for his current condition, he couldn´t see any sign of the usual Divine Assassin implants anywhere. His body wasn´t excessive muscular, but well-shaped, wirily… and the usual pale and grey color of a Divine Assassins´ decarbonized body was replaced by the natural tones of a living humans´ skin. Well, he hadn´t believed it…but it was true, this man was really alive!
"Hello Kai!" Taleron hissed and bent down to the defenseless man.
Kai didn´t wince a bit when he heard him calling his name. It was the last proof he needed. He recognized the voice at once. Slowly, and nearly uninvolved, he opened his eyes to face Taleron. "Hello, biovesir!"
Taleron grinned. "So, you still know who I am!?" Kai glared at him without any sign of emotion on his face. "I state that as a yes." Taleron looked over to one of the assistants, who had tried to get his attention. "What is it?" he asked ungracious. "Biovesir," the man bowed hastily. "We tried everything to administer the truth serum…but…," "But what?" Taleron asked back, paying the man full attention. "It´s not working," the man stuttered. "Not working? How comes that?" Taleron asked on, looking shortly at Kai. The assistant shrunk his shoulders nervously. "Then start to find out why…hell and damnation, what are the devices here for?" Taleron shouted at him and put his concentration back at Kai. The assistant hurried to fulfill his master's demand.
Kai used the opportunity to rebalance himself a bit. He hid his emotions as good as he could when Taleron appeared, but despite something inside him wanted to jump at Taleron right here and now. Fortunately his cool half had more control and his mind knew that he wasn´t able to act before Taleron was about to make a mistake…or reveal a weak point. He had to stay the course, whatever would happen.
The assistants part till now had been of the inoffensive kind…there was nothing threatening to inject some truth serum into his system…cause he knew that it wouldn´t work. So he hadn´t answered any of their test questions. But on the other hand it also held the danger that Taleron would detect his true condition way to soon. Time was running – and now against him.
Taleron took up their conversation. Strange enough that the truth serum didn´t work, but he had experienced that before…with imprisoned Sha´ra. Their biology was somehow immune against such drugs. Maybe the BrunnenG was similar.
Talerons gaze shifted to a small table in the back and next to Kai´s jacket he saw a small glittering familiar shaped object. He fetched it and turned it in his hand.
"Interesting weapon, right?" he asked and played with it. "Did you know that I was the one who made the last modifications on it? No? Well, how should you…as far as I know the mindless assassins of His Divine Shadow were not really aware of their surroundings…and they acted more like decorous lapdogs." Kai turned his head and looked at Taleron with a threatening gleam in his eyes. The Biovesir smiled: "How is it to live again, Kai, to feel again? After all those years…all those murder?"
Kai stayed cool on the outside when Taleron started the little game…he didn´t reveal his inner thoughts with any treasonable gesture. "Seems that you still stuck to old times, or why do you keep this weapon?" "To snuff out your life!" Kai growled, a bit surprised about his reaction and choice of words. Taleron shrunk back in played surprise. "Whoops…you haven´t decided to talk, don´t you? Very reasonable, even if it wasn´t very…complimentary." Kai shook his head in contempt. "Stanley told me a lot of things, well, the truth serum worked on him. A very interesting story…really. His Divine Shadow dead, the LightZone a victim of Mantrids´ megalomania, the Lexx kidnapped by three strange figures…well, but this all is nothing compared to another fact, isn´t it?" Taleron laid the weapon back down on the table and bent down to Kai again, examining him with narrowed eyes. "How comes it that you´re alive? I always thought that death is something….final!" Kai stared back: "That´s something I always believed in too," he answered calm. "We aren´t the same opinion, or?" Taleron sneered. "Except for this opinion, I don´t think we are." "Too bad. I would be so grateful about someone with experience on certain sectors. You certainly have observed that my Empire is growing very fast…? I really could need someone who is able to clean up among those who want to stop this process. Oh, but what I am talking, I forgot, it´s surely not easy for you, as a now living and breathing human being to kill someone?" "There are exceptions, Taleron, and insects and you are part of these exceptions!" Kai responded. "Again those threat to life…oh Kai, I don´t think that you will ever have the opportunity to kill anyone here…at last, I´m superior and I have a clear advantage over you now!" Taleron grabbed Kai´s throat and pressed his fingers together slightly. "You´re in my sways….and not undead anymore!" Talerons´ expression turned into one of hate and for a moment his insect side took control of him…Kai´s disrespectful behavior annoyed him and his wrath needed a bit release…he just needed it…he wanted to have a bit more fun here.
With a brutal strike his fist hit Kai´s side and the BrunnenG gasped in surprise when the air was pressed out of him.
Kai felt and heard one of his ribs breaking. The pain was very intense, but it faded as quickly as it appeared when the rib healed again. But for Taleron, he lengthened it…he mustn't know anything right now!
"It hurts, right?" Taleron said and let go of him. Except for a more distinct angry glare, Kai didn´t show any reaction. "Well, what for possibilities do we have to get a good conversation working? After we have to ignore the drugs? I, for my part, developed an appetite for physical torture over time – but I know that physical pain isn´t everything. There are other methods which can be more entertaining…what do you think, does an individual like you have other weak points besides physical vulnerability?" Taleron looked intensely at him and tipped with his forefinger on Kai´s head.
"Tell me Kai, how does it feel to be a mass murderer of innocent people…?" "…You should know best!" Kai interrupted him. "…and to know that a villain like me had escaped?" Taleron ended the sentence determined. "The dead didn´t care about that," Kai answered. "Oh, I believe you, but I don´t think that you feel the same way now. Here I am, Kai, ….but sorry, out of reach for you!" Taleron grinned. Kai looked aside…he felt the cold rage inside him growing.
"Honestly…Kai," Taleron bent down next to his ear and whispered: "I look up to you, to your career you made as a Divine Assassin in the service of His Divine Shadow. After all I learned about the BrunnenG the past years, I haven´t thought that one of these people would ever become such an expedient assassin. Of course, I have to mention, that there were some…private lessons necessary from our side, but after all, His Divine Shadow had always been very satisfied with your work…!" "I don´t know what you´re driving at, Taleron," the BrunnenG replied, a bit unsure what was Taleron aiming at when he directed his comments again and again at his past. His gut feeling told him that Taleron had a certain plan how to get him talking…and that it must have something to do with his past…
"You really don´t remember?" Kai looked at Taleron…and for a moment he was sure that his façade must have faltered, cause on Talerons face appeared a victorious smile. "There are things concerning my past I don´t remember…because His Shadow only woke me when he was in need of my service," Kai said flatly. "I don´t mean that." Taleron said almost cheering. It was about time to start the real game. "I know that you assassins were only revived when needed…His Shadow had enough of you, but he tried to preserve his precious ones as long as possible. Such as you…in fact, there were not many like you. You know that you haven´t been an ordinary assassin, don´t you?" Kai didn´t answer. This was exactly not the topic he wanted to be confronted with…inwardly he cursed…why had Taleron of all things had to talk about this?
Because this was the point he was vulnerable…much more than with any threat through physical pain. Taleron was good…he had underestimated the Biovesirs´ keen sense for weak points. Not only Brizon and Mantrid knew much about the assassins…he didn´t doubt that Taleron had also been well informed about some things on the Cluster than others had been. Bad apprehensions grew inside him…this situation seemed not to take a twist he wanted…
"To change individuals into Divine Assassins wasn´t mass-production, you need special specimen for it…oh yes…do you know how humans were changed into Divine Assassins? Have you ever asked yourself how it was possible to create such perfect killer machines?" Talerons gaze was that of a hawk. "No? Well, why should you, the dead don´t see any sense in such questions…" Taleron straightened up and reached into his pocket. Slowly he extracted the chip from it, so Kai could see it. The BrunnenG, ignoring the more and more intense feeling of something really worse, asked darkly: "What´s that?" "A precious treasure, priceless. I always wondered why several of His Shadows´ predecessors had made such a huge collection of records, and what was kept on them. The second last Shadow handled this archive especially with much care, only few people had access to it, mainly only those who made these records. But well, even if everything was so strict and controlled on the Cluster, an imaginative mind find its way to those things. And after I was able to copy several records from the archive, and watched them…I understood," Taleron said with a hoarse whisper. "The Divine Shadow who killed you, spent much time on you, not only after you became an assassin…even before! It´s so sad that all that happened 2000 years before I became a Biovesir in the service of one of the successors of this Shadow…but what a luck that he was so keen on recording everything that went on around him." Taleron laughed nasty and walked over to the devices to put the chip into the player. "Did you know that His Shadow was always present when new assassins were transformed? All Shadows did it. I too witnessed such a transformation. And I saw how he loved to be present, how he loved it to give them back their conscious mind, their memory he had stolen before, during that process." Talerons expression turned into a grimace…"So much pain, so much desperation and wrath…oh, those were times!" he thought back when he told that in a sweet voice.
For Kai, every word was as sharp as a needle piercing through his mind. For a moment his heart nearly stopped when he heard Taleron talking about that.
Were there really records about what had happened after His Shadow had killed him? If His Shadow gave several of them the memories back…why didn´t he remember that? He knew everything that had happened when he was awake and doing the deeds His Shadows had ordered him to do…worse enough, that he did. But why shouldn´t he remember this part? Kai closed his eyes when he suddenly was drawn towards a secret, unopened door in his mind. He had searched his mind often enough for information, but this part he didn´t know. It was as if this part had never existed before that day…but now it did. He had a lot of unpleasant memories…but what if his own mind protected him from the worst? What if his mind never wanted him to discover this part? Kai couldn´t stop denying that this door suddenly was there…Taleron had re-opened the path to it…and he already saw the key in the lock slowly turning….he frowned.
"We should close this error in your memories, don´t you think Kai?" Taleron said and directed a mind probe at his head. Kai´s mouth suddenly became very dry.
"Seems as if you wish yourself miles away…," Taleron laughed. "Oh, before I forget it…we can shorten this procedure of course. I´m ready any time…depends on the circumstances of course."
"And those were?" Kai asked. "Tell me why you are here…and I might think about it…," Taleron said. Of course…it would be too sad if Kai really told him now what he wanted to know…he was keen on having some fun first…
"Free Stanley," Kai said and looked gloomy at Taleron. "Oh, come on, with three people? I don´t believe a word. A President, a love-slave and an ex-assassin? Once again: What do you want here?" "Free Stanley!" Kai repeated stoically. "Of course! I thought that I wouldn´t get a proper answer and I knew that you wouldn´t give in that soon. Well, I´ve seen this vid many times…and I have to admit that it proofs this attitude…not very wise, so to speak…but very entertaining for His Shadow…and me!" Taleron walked over to the player and made a few settings for the special device he simply called a mind probe. Not that it was only for visualizing what was inside other people's mind, no, it also was utilizable in the reversed way. He had used it for torture and for brain washing before…but here it would be used for something completely new…to reveal those hidden memories inside Kai´s brain. The device would stimulate those centers of the human brain that tend to save memories. He had heard that a technique called hypnosis worked similar to reveal hidden memories…but he preferred the technical variety, because he wanted to visualize everything together with what Kai´s memories would reveal additionally to the record.
With a victorious smile he returned to Kai: "You know what, Kai? The undead are in a pitiable condition…but they have one consolation: they don´t feel…whereas living people do!"
Then he waved at his assistant to activate the beam of the mind probe and the records. A second later a green light hit Kai´s forehead and threw Kai´s concentration completely on his thoughts and memories. Kai felt the just appeared and obviously for such a long time sealed door unlocking. He couldn´t do anything against this process…Kai didn´t exactly know what would await him, but a vague feeling told him that those memories are going to confront him with a cruelty that was spared him since the day he got his memories back. Even the undead assassin hadn´t been able to access these memories…Kai didn´t try to ask himself what these memories would cause to him…if the dead don´t remember it…the living should under no circumstances reminded to it!