Loops
Alley was not awake. That said, she was not asleep either. She had never completely lost consciousness despite everything that various people had done. Between her anger at things that had happened and her abilities, she had managed to retain some semblance of consciousness while she had been bounced about. Add to that her healing ability crossed with her ability to shut off her nervous system and it got really hard to hurt her. Someone had actually started to dissect her and she had healed the damage as soon as they had cut. It hadn't been pleasant at all, but it had been hilarious hearing Lizbeth curse.
Now? Something had changed and Alley was done waiting. She cast out with her mind and was pleasantly surprised. She was floating in a tank like Maya's. The fluid was oxygenated, so she wasn't going to drown. Not that she would in any normal sense, but still it was odd to say the least. It was warm and comfortable in the tube. It seemed that they, whoever they were, didn't actually want her dead or even hurting now.
A young voice crying nearby pulled Alley's attention and she cracked an eye to find another surprise. Lizbeth sat in a chair next to the tube. She was crying. She was also muttering to herself and with a bit of effort, Alley altered her auditory apparatus to hear the woman.
"Liars! All liars. Everyone lies!" The woman… No. Lizbeth was young. She was maybe fifteen? She had been crying for a while. "They take and take and take!" She snarled as she held her head in her hands, tears falling to land on the floor. "I just... I just wanted to find Cathi… Why was that so hard?"
"Lizbeth, honey..." Alley went totally still as Elizabeth appeared nearby. She was older than Alley had last seen her and she wore a beautiful golden gown as well as a crown that glowed dully on her head. "It is all right."
"GO AWAY!" The girl screamed at the older version of herself. "I hate you!"
"I deserve that." Elizabeth said quietly. "No one thought to check. There were so many of us. So many… me." She said weakly as Lizbeth cried. "We didn't realize, girl. I am sorry. Lizbeth, it is not too late. You can fix this!" She pleaded.
"Fix?" Lizbeth snapped. "Fix what? They will attack and he will be let loose!Advent is going to die! Humans are all going to die. Everyone will die! The only one left will be me and… it." She winced hard and Elizabeth looked away. "I… I can't."
"You can't do it alone, girl. But you don't have to! There are people who can help! Let us!" Elizabeth begged.
"GO AWAY!" Lizbeth screamed again. "Go back to your life! Your throne! Your family! Go away!"
"Lizbeth, I am sorry." Elizabeth said sadly. "It is not your fault! It is mine!" She shook her head. "Lizbeth, you can stop this. You are the only one who can. You cannot do it alone. But you are not alone. Girl… please! I do not want to lose you. I love you." She begged.
"Liar!" Lizbeth all but spat that, but the older version of herself wasn't fazed.
"Lizbeth, in every way that matters, you are my sister." The woman with the crown said quietly. "I have failed you. I know that. What happened to you was horror on par with any I have seen across the multiverse but it is not too late. Not yet. Lizbeth, please!" Lizbeth looked at the older her and her eyes turned cold.
"Master, we have an intruder." The girl's voice was a monotone and Elizabeth stilled as a humanoid form appeared in Alley's vision. She had never seen one, but Jane had described Advent Avatars to her. This was one. It appeared to be androgynous, white-haired human in armor with a purple facemask. But the armor was incomplete and the body seemed almost patchwork?
"Begone, interloper." The Avatar raised a psionic amp, but Elizabeth did not move, did not draw a weapon or react in any way.
"Feel free to attack me." Elizabeth might have been carved form stone now. "Then I will have cause to retaliate and I will kill you for what you did to her and so many others." She nodded to Lizbeth who sat frozen at this byplay. "If you perish, your hold on my sister perishes with you. Your creator broke rules that he could not fathom. You are not him. You are a cheap copy." That was biting. "You don't even know why you are doing this, do you?"
"I obey my commands." The other retorted even as his amp started to glow.
"Your commands are as idiotic as his agenda was." Elizabeth shook her head. "Immortality is no blessing as the Elders found out. He died. You are not him and Alley cannot repair your form any more than she could repair the one the Speaker wanted her to fix."
Wait a minute. Alley stilled in her tank. Who was Elizabeth talking to? Was she explaining to Alley what they wanted?
"This world is mine." The Avatar snapped and drew power form his amp to throw at Elizabeth. Elizabeth smirked as the bolt of energy hit something in front of her and reflected. It hit the tank Alley was in and half of it vanished! None of the energy hit her! That was clearly by plan as Elizabeth chortled and both of the others stared from Elizabeth to the tank where fluid was falling out of a huge hole melted in its facing. Elizabeth's tone was mocking now.
"Oops."
While they were stunned, Alley acted. Here, Lizbeth had a physical form. She was incredibly powerful, but her form was human so, barring any incredibly powerful and likely dangerous to hang onto technologies, she was vulnerable. Alley's spit hit the girl in the face and Lizbeth fell, a shocked expression fading as the powerful sedative did its magic. The Avatar spun, his amp coming up, but suddenly, the world shifted and Alley was beside Elizabeth! Power flared around her. Golden power that somehow, she knew was protective. Somehow, she knew Elizabeth would die before she let Alley come to further harm. She shouldn't trust Elizabeth, but somehow, she knew that right here, right now, she could.
"No, I can't fix that." Alley agreed as she gathered power. "Destroying it now? Jane told me how." She smiled grimly as the Avatar seemed frozen. Or were they moving faster than him? "This is the mysterious 'He' who had been running things?" She asked the woman with the crown.
"Yes." Elizabeth said sadly. "This is what is left of the Warlock's evil. What he planned to use to take control from the Elders." Alley stared at Elizabeth, dumbfounded, and the woman shrugged. "One of the first rules of power. 'Most people want more'. Coups are nothing new. He had a great deal of power, but he wanted more and the Elders refused to give it, so he was going to take it. Then after a particularly bad mess, he found a young human girl who had no idea why she was called to search this reality for someone she did not know. It took him quite a while to break my sister, but he did." She slumped as she looked at Lizbeth's crumpled body. "If he wasn't dead, I would kill him myself just for that and to hell with the consequences."
"The Lady doesn't like you." Alley said slowly and Elizabeth shook her head, still eyeing the Avatar which seemed frozen.
"I have given her cause. Lizbeth made a mess, and I have made more trying to stop her." Elizabeth sounded off and Alley reached out to touch the woman who stilled. She was bleeding internally! Inside her head! "Alley! No!" Elizabeth batted Alley's hand away. "This is my curse. You cannot stop it or help me. I will live." Under her breath she muttered 'No matter how much I might wish otherwise'.
Without her enhanced hearing, Alley never would have heard the soft words. For all of her faults, Alley was a kind-hearted soul now. She knew the depths of evil and the heights that good could aspire to. She knew failure and grief when she heard it. She might not like or trust Elizabeth in any other situation, but here? She understood about losing family, Alley did.
"What is he trying to do?" Alley asked after a moment's thought. "I mean, killing off Advent seems counterproductive."
"It makes sense if you realize he needs corpses to make his armies." Elizabeth replied and Alley felt her guts clench. "Psionically animated corpses do not bleed. They do not need food, fuel or any other logistics that are in short supply with the Elders gone. Even with weapons, they are far easier to maintain than a regular armed force."
"So all of the those Advent who died in Asia..." Alley inhaled as Elizabeth nodded.
"...are fodder of his army of undead." Elizabeth agreed. "The pilot? That poor boy has been warped and twisted to think he is serving X-Com, but he is a slave now." She looked at Alley, and her eyes held horror. "You are his only chance. His and Maya's."
"And Lizbeth?" Alley asked.
"I tried to help her." Elizabeth said quietly. "I took her home and we tried everything we knew and then everything we could beg, borrow or steal. It wasn't enough. What he did to her broke something inside her, something not physical, and it isn't something we can fix. No matter how I search, how hard I try, I cannot fix what he destroyed. I cannot replace what he tore out. He took her love and turned it into hate. Ending her pain may be the only merciful thing to do." That clearly hurt her to say.
"No." Alley said slowly. "There has to be another way. Yes, what she has done is evil, but if she was warped into this, then she can be helped."
"Alley, we tried everything I could think of and then some." Elizabeth bowed her head. "Nothing worked. I am not omniscient but the only thing that might work is a mindwipe and then, she won't be who she is now. She will likely be looking for Cathi again and God only knows what might happen then."
"This 'Cathi' was missing?" Alley asked and Elizabeth nodded. "Now?"
"She was found and it was a mess, but she is safe." Elizabeth sighed deeply. "Or, as safe as any. All of the various me who were looking for her were told and can get on with their lives." That made little sense to Alley, but she just rolled with it. "Most of them. Some are like Lizbeth, broken."
"Just like the world we live in." Alley said softly. "You were to going to get the information on the poison. Did you?"
"I did." Elizabeth smiled a little sadly. "Again, it was a mess since the base was filled with his zombies, but Jane got away. They got the antidote to Milodi in time. She will take some time to recover, but she is alive."
"Good." Alley smiled and then sobered. "So… what now? Lizbeth is a threat, but as you say, she is a girl who was tormented. I can only imagine what the Warlock did to her. I only touched his mind in passing and it hurt."
"We saw it all when we tried to help her." Elizabeth looked sick and Alley could sympathize. "Alley, killing her is-" She broke off as Alley glared at her.
"Stop." Alley said without heat. "Manipulating me and Jane into bonding was one thing. We both like each other ad we can help each other. Manipulating me to try and save your sister is beyond the pale after she attacked me and Jane. What does her master want Jane for, anyway?"
"Bride of Frankenstein." Elizabeth replied and Alley felt her guts clench all over again. "And no, she escaped. She is not the problem. Jian has lost her temper and all hell is about to break loose."
"He wants Jane as a wife?" Alley demanded, fury and horror mixing. "What is he… nuts?"
"Yeah, that is nuts. Technically, she would be his liaison to humanity. To rule in his stead, to put on the appearance of normalcy." Elizabeth replied. "She would be his Speaker. She would be far easier to deal with that the other one and with her reputation? Who would dare argue with her?"
"Bradford." Alley said dryly and Elizabeth smiled. Said smile fell.
"Point." Elizabeth sighed. "Alley, I am what I am. I have been what I am for a long, long time. I am an Empress, a puppet mistress. I push things from the shadows when I cannot act directly. I have done good and evil. Pushing you and Jane together seemed the best possible solution when I realized that Lizbeth's master wanted Jane. You and Jane together can do anything." She looked away. "I want to save Lizbeth, but I have no right to push you into doing anything. The Lady is right. I have interfered here far more than I had any right to. I brought Jian here and that will cause far more of a mess than even I did. All that I ask is that you show Lizbeth mercy. If said mercy is a quick death, then I and mine will accept that. If, by some miracle, you find a better way, then count me in your debt now and forever, Alley."
She bowed to the snake woman, her bow deep and formal. Alley looked at her and then at the Avatar.
"We need to get out of here." Alley said after a moment. "You can't help, can you?"
"No." Elizabeth shook her head. "Once this time bubble expires, I have to go. The Lady's patience has been strained overtime by all of what I did. What Jian is going to do will push her into a rage."
"Jian?" Alley inquired. "What has she done?'
"Jian feels a debt of honor to you and to Jane." Elizabeth said with a shrug. "Her kind take such things very seriously. You know the type. Oshina protected your nest while you grew up." At that Alley went totally still and Elizabeth nodded. "Such rigid senses of honor are hard to maintain, but those who do are incredibly focused and incredibly dangerous. Jian just called in an army to rescue you and made Jane its commander." Alley's eyes went huge at that and Elizabeth grinned. "Before that? Jian lost patience and took the Speaker hostage to assure Advent's cooperation."
"Oh?" Alley was almost punch drunk now.
"The Speaker wants your ability to repair another Avatar. He thinks you can bring the Elders back if you do that. Well, you and Mina." Elizabeth made a face as Alley hissed. "Mina is safe. Maya is not."
"I figured it was something like that. Moron." Alley groused. "Where is Maya?"
"Left. Two doors down the hall. The boy is there too. Alley..." Elizabeth paused Alley tensed. "Be careful and trust your heart. I hope… I hope to talk to you again someday."
"I will do what I can for your sister, Elizabeth. But right now?" Alley slid low to the ground, readying herself. "I need to get out of this room."
"The door is now unlocked." Elizabeth smiled grimly as golden energy flared around said door. "Make it hurt."
With that, the golden energy around Alley faded. Elizabeth did too just as the Avatar threw a bolt of energy at her. Wrong target. Alley slid right past him even as he tried to correct his aim and she was out the door before he could act. She didn't bother locking the door. He was far too powerful to be stopped by a locked door. One door, two doors, she slapped that door open and slid into the room only to stop short. Maya slept in her tube nest to a bed in which a familiar young man lay. The pilot did not sleep soundly. He was tossing and turning, restrained to the bed. An odd helmet was strapped to his head, but it was the monitor attached to Maya's tube that had Alley suddenly freezing in place.
The name emblazoned on the monitor was 'Maya Parker'.
Suddenly, things started to make sense to Alley. Once, while Alley and Jane had been talking, the conversation had turned to family. Alley's partner Mark had died as a result of a bad decision that the man who had sired him had made. Even with all of the rage, pain and grief that had come of that, Alley had worked to talk to the man, despite his bone deep hatred for extra-terrestrials. She hadn't wanted to give him power over her and in that talk, she had realized that he too was hurting. He would likely never be released from prison after other crimes he had committed had come out, but he wasn't at heart a bad man, just driven.
This base was an X-Com facility. It was secret from everyone. Even X-Com! Now, who could have done such a thing and not left any records anywhere? An X-Com operative and not just any. Someone who was driven to find something she had lost. No, someones she had lost. The Viper looked to the side and her guts roiled as she saw a human brain sitting in a vat of chemicals against one wall. A cloned brain and not just any.
Trust my heart...
"I am an idiot." Alley said mildly as she rose to her full height. She made sure her hands were still and her crest was relaxed. She was in danger now, but she understood. Did she ever. A mother's love truly knew no bounds. "I won't hurt her or him. You have my word."
"I..." A hesitant female voice sounded from a speaker by the vat. "They said your name is Alley. Did I know you? I don't remember. I don't remember a lot."
"We never met, but I know Jane." Alley replied. "It isn't your fault. He took this place, didn't he? He took you, didn't he?"
"It hurt." The voice was soft, scared. "I was supposed to guard it and I failed! It hurt so bad and I couldn't fight him! I tried to!"
"I know." Alley sighed. "I touched his mind once in passing and it hurt like hell." The Avatar ran in and came to a sudden halt as it took in the scene. Alley glared at it, but her words were to the brain in the vat. To the mind that had been ensconced in this base by her masters. Her X-Com masters!
"It is all right, Jenni. It is going to be all right."