Chapter 9 – Subconscientia (Subconsciousness)
Moments after leaving Blue, Tsegael pointed her fighter up to the sky, looking to head into orbit. Her destination was the dreadnought Gigaal. She was instructed to head there, should the time come when she either accomplished her mission, or was found out. She was annoyed she was forced to head back for the latter reason.
"I swear I'm going to be seeing that fucking hilt in my sleep. Oh well, not like I was going to know everything perfectly. I'm sure Razael will be happy to hear my cover lasted this long," Tsegael muttered to herself.
Tsegael saw a bright flash from behind her, coming from Blue. The flash caught her by surprise.
"Huh? They shouldn't be able to shoot... fuck!" shouted Tsegael, as her fighter was hit. That was the last thing she remembered before passing out.
Tsegael suddenly found herself in a large, white space. There was no floor, no ceiling, no anything. Just pure white.
"Hello? Where am I? Is anyone here?" asked Tsegael.
"I can answer one of those questions," came another voice. The voice was male, but that's all Tsegael could tell.
"Where are you?" Tsegael asked, while desperately trying to find the source of the voice. She found her answer in a person she could make out in the distance. She found she could float through the space she was in, and approached the person before her. She found the person looked very familiar. His long dark hair, and black long coat standing out.
"You're... Seigai?" asked Tsegael.
"Yes, that's right. And you're... that girl in the other seat. Yes, the other seat of that machine," replied Seigai.
"What... no, no... this is impossible. You shouldn't... you can't... you can't!" shouted Tsegael.
Tsegael suddenly found herself awake. She recognized the setting quickly. She was in an Arume medical bay. She noticed there was another person in the room with her. This one wore a standard, skin tight, white Arume uniform. She was much smaller than Tsegael, looking to be no older than a young teenager. She has should length, curly, platinum blonde hair, and had the bright blue eyes all members of the Arume race had. Tsegael recognized her immediately.
"Urgh... Nerael... that is you, right?" asked Tsegael.
"Tsegael? Tsegael!" shouted Nerael.
"Hey, hun. Urgh... I feel like my head is twice the size it should be..." muttered Tsegael.
"You had a concussion from whatever hit your fighter. You've been unconscious for about a week. You also had a bullet wound in your right shoulder. Your shoulder has healed already, but the head injury will probably take a little longer," explained Nerael.
"Aw... does that mean we can't have any fun on my first night back?" asked Tsegael.
"Sorry, my love, but you'll have to wait. I don't want to upset your head injury any further."
"Oh, fine. You keep being the good wife, and I'll keep being the good... other... wife... damn, I swear I had a good punchline. Being among the Forime so long has messed with my sense of humor a little."
"It's okay, dear. I'll go ahead and let the admiral know you are up," spoke Nerael, as she walked away.
"Don't be too long, my love, we have so much catching up to do," replied Tsegael.
Tsegael was alone for a good thirty minutes, let to think to herself for a bit. She chuckled to herself at the situation she left her former crew in.
"I wonder if they said please, yet?" spoke Tsegael, while gigging to herself. It was a simple thing to end the troubles she caused for Blue's crew. She was sad she wouldn't get to see their reactions to finding out that's all they had to do.
Her giggling was interrupted by the return of Nerael, and another woman at her side. This woman also wore an Arume uniform, but also had an Admiral's rank insignia, along with an admiral's cape. The woman had long, straight gray hair to go with her ocean blue eyes. She had a beauty mark just above the right side of her lip.
"Ah, Admiral Tobael, it is pleasant to see you again. Sorry if I don't offer a salute," spoke Tsegael.
"It's fine. Nerael, a moment alone please," spoke the admiral.
"Of course," replied Nerael, before she took her leave.
Once the door closed, Tobael turned to look directly at Tsegael.
"How was your mission?" asked Tobael.
"A mixed success. I got them up and running, and gave them a few victories. Let them have their one moment to shine, then turned on the tracking device and let them taste defeat. The tension on that ship was quite thick. A good time to pit the Forime against their Arume allies. A shame one bad memory let to me getting outed. Still, it's highly unlikely they will find the last tracking device. I purposefully made them think I had nothing but clunky, Forime made devices. They'll never find the main one," explained Tsegael.
"I see. I'm sure I'll find your full report to be an interesting read. How about the experiment? How are the results?"
"Outstanding. Looks like we got the settings right, and just when we were down to the last Forime. Quite convenient, I suppose. The memories aren't all 100% complete, though. As I said, it was a small detail that got me outed. Still, over six months among Forime daily, and they suspected nothing."
"I'll pass that along, then."
"So, what do you have for me, next?"
"A good question, Commander. We actually have a ship lined up for you. Do you remember the Ember?"
"The Ember... heavy cruiser, engaged us alongside the Violet. They tried to copy a shield configuration we were using to protect the vital areas of our ship. But they didn't copy it perfectly; they failed to make sure their computer could switch power if one of the relays was damaged. They were quickly disabled. The Violet did a much better job."
"Yes, Mariel is a much more talented commander than Elomil. We demoted her to operations, and have her working on Mariel's ship. She could learn a thing or two from her. That leaves the Ember needing a new commander, of course."
"Quite convenient this is happening upon my return to the ship."
"The Ember has been undergoing repairs up here with us. She was heavily damaged in the battle over Hirsoshima. Both Elomil and Tomil were quite the fools in that battle. At least Elomil might be able to learn something from it. She's yours, once you've recovered. Doctors say you should be ready to go in another week. There's nothing keeping you hear, though."
"Good. I think I've been in bed long enough. Time to stretch out a little," Tsegael said, getting up from under the hospital blankets. She found the air of the hospital room greeting her naked body to be quite comfortable.
"Oh, thank the Mother, I don't have to wear the stupid binder anymore! Or that fake penis looking thing!" shouted Tsegael.
"Nerael can take you back to your quarters. The doctors said..."
"Yeah, yeah, no violent love making until I'm healed. Nerael told me already."
"If you end up back here because of not listening, I'll demote you alongside Elomil."
"Ouch, guess I better keep my libido in check for a week. I better get my uniform on, and start on my report. Giving you some good reading material will make for a useful distraction."
"Very good. As you were, Commander," Admiral Tobael stated, as she left the room.
Nerael returned to the room in her place.
"Ya know, hun, it almost feels a crime having to put on a uniform after finally being free from my disguise," spoke Tsegale, as Nerael entered.
"As much as I wouldn't mind, it would be hard for me to keep my hands off of you."
"Ah, yes, of course, doctors orders and all. Guess I better put one on, then. When we get back to our quarters. Care to lead the way? Haven't been here in a while, and all."
Nerael nodded, and the pair made their way to their quarters. Tsegael grabbed one of her commander's uniforms she had lying around. She was happy to put on the familiar cape, though the bandage on her head kept her cap from fitting. As an extra, she pulled out a sword. One that happened to have Urufu engraved on the hilt. She picked it up to look at it carefully.
"You know, the whole time I've had this thing, and I never noticed it," spoke Tsegael.
"Noticed what?" asked Nerael.
"The engraving on the hilt. I even had a replicator make a perfect copy of it, but I never noticed it. Amazing how such a small detail can come back to haunt you."
"Is that what gave you away?"
"From what I can tell. I couldn't exactly hang around and ask. I doubt they would have told me, anyway."
"Why did you want to hold onto that thing, anyway?"
"I think it looks cool. Don't you? I know it's a primitive weapon from a primitive race, dating from an even more primitive era, but it's interesting to me. Or maybe having to wear its copy for the past eight months has just made it a staple of my daily attire," Tsegael explained, as she put on a belt to hold the sword to her person, "see, totally fits the uniform."
"It's different, but I could get used to it," Nerael said, as she gave her wife a kiss on the lips. Tsegael offered a childish grin in return.
"Well, time to put together this report. I'll try not to take all night. Will be nice sharing a bed with you again, even if we can't have fun times together," spoke Tsegael, as she sat down at the terminal on the desk in the room.
Tsegael quickly went to work making up her report on her mission. She put in every detail, from what fake cover story she came up with, to her first meeting with Hisoka and Kensuke, them telling her they found an Arume survivor, and everything that had taken place after. After she finished the report with her mistake with the swords, noting the memory transfer experiment was not a complete success, she sent her report to Tobael, and took a look at the time. Several hours had passed since she started. Nerael was already asleep in bed.
"Well... that was fun..." muttered Tsegael to herself, before taking off her uniform, and joining her wife in bed. She found sleep came quickly after the dull task of writing a report.
In her sleep, Tsegael found herself in that white space with Seigai again.
"Welcome back," spoke Seigai.
"What... you're still here... how? What's going on?" asked a confused Tsegael.
"I don't know, really. Last thing I remember was being set in that seat on the other side of the machine you were in. The next thing I remember is seeing you here. Then you faded away, leaving me alone again. And now you're back."
"I faded away?"
"Well... more like disappeared. Like... poof!" Seigai said, while gesturing with his arms.
"When I woke up..."
"When you woke up... hey, what was that machine supposed to do, anyway?"
"The machine was supposed to transfer your consciousness to me. They told me you would be fully suppressed, and I would have access to everything you knew and all of your memories."
"Well, I guess they didn't get that second part right."
" I don't understand, it's been eight months... so why now?"
"Eight months? Really? It seems like... before I met you, literally, the last thing was being put into that machine."
"And what about when I woke up?"
"I've been here alone."
"Ok... so you're just here... in this space... in my head... surely... this is a nightmare, or something."
"Or you hit your head really hard, or something."
"Hit my head... the concussion. That's it, you're just the result of that concussion. Yes! That has to be it! Hopefully that means you'll go away when it heals."
"Go away, you say? To what? Oblivion?"
"I don't care. All I need from you is what you know. I don't need the company."
"After everything you did to my staff... to the captain, and right in front of me! And all you wanted was intel? For what!? You defeated us so quick, what could possibly be in my head that's at all useful to you? Why couldn't you just kill me like the rest?"
"If you must know, we wanted to learn more about your culture, how you act, how your society is structured. And how easily it would be for us to blend in, should spy tactics be needed."
"I see... so, are the others in here, or just me?"
"Just you. All the others failed. We ended up wiping their minds, but got nothing out of them."
"So, I was the lucky one. Lucky that I went last, huh?"
"You should be honored, you know. You will forever be a part of me. A part of something great. A part of a superior race. The best a monkey like you could ever hope for."
"Monkey, huh? Don't be surprised if this 'monkey' makes a fool of you later."
The alarm in Tsegael's quarters went off, waking both her and Nerael up.
"Urgh... good morning, my love. How did you sleep?" asked Nerael.
"I still feel like I took a pipe to the head, but I'm sure it will get better," replied Tsegael.
Tsegael wasn't sure if she should tell Nerael about her dreams with Seigai or not. Part of her wanted to, another part of her didn't want to worry her wife. Nerael surely had been worried sick for the past eight months, knowing full well that Tsegael may have had to play the role she took up until the end, and "go down with the ship" as Seigai. Tsegael was quite thankful it had not come to that. She would reach out to Razael, and see if the Arume researcher had anything to offer her.
After getting herself dressed, Tsegael's first action was to see the Admiral. She expected the Admiral to have some questions for her after going through her report. The Admiral sat on the expansive bridge of the dreadnought they were aboard. The ship had six stations set aboard the bridge. Two were the standard operations and gunner positions. The others were multi-purpose stations for coordinating different parts of the invasion fleet.
"Welcome to the bridge of the Gigaal, Commander. How are you this morning?" asked Tobael.
"I am well, Admiral. Have you reviewed my report?" asked Tsegael.
"I have. Very thorough. I didn't expect to get a lesson in Forime cuisine while I was going through it."
"I didn't want to leave out anything of potential use. After all, once this invasion is over, we are going to have to live with these barbarians full time. May as well know everything there is to know about them. Maybe if they behave, we might reward them from time to time."
"Aren't you quite the sadist."
"It's probably from having to listen to that Kensuke go on and on about killing all of us. It took all of my self discipline not to kill the guy and blame Ekaril for it. Maybe I should have done that instead of butchering those gosta. Or both, I could have done both."
Tobael let out a chuckle at the last comment.
"Tsegael, I have missed you and your tasteless sense of humor. I'll miss you again when you depart next week."
"That gives you another week to find a court jester. Until then, I'll be sure to give you at least one laugh a day."
"Of course. Is there anything you'd like to add to your report?"
"Nothing for the report, but something for the experiment. Tell me, is Razael still aboard?"
"She is not, but I can get you into touch with her. Is everything okay?"
"I think so. I just want to make sure nothing bad could come of getting a concussion. I'm sure her experiment didn't account for any heavy bumps to the head."
"I see. I'll go ahead and have the transmission routed to your quarters. I'm sure you would like some privacy for such a conversation."
"Thank you Admiral, you're too kind. Do you have anything else for me?"
"Not for now, Commander. If you want to experience being among your own kind, go ahead. I'm also sure there are some of your new crew who would like to meet you before going into battle. Other than that, I've been asked not to have you do any 'heavy lifting.'"
"I see. Very well, I'll keep my duties restricted to pleasant strolls throughout the ship. I do have on request, though."
"Which is?"
"I would like to have Nerael as part of my crew. It's been so long away from her, I would hate to have to leave her again for another tour of duty so soon. She's more than qualified to be an operator aboard a heavy cruiser."
"If that if what you wish, then I can see to it."
"Thank you, Admiral, you are too kind."
"Dismissed, Commander."
Tsegael nodded, and headed to her quarters. She waited patiently at her terminal for a communication from the scientist in charge of the experiment that had Seigai downloaded into her mind. About an hour later, she heard the beeping indicating an incoming transmission. Tsegael accepted it. She found herself greeted by an Arume scientist in a simple white dress, with a white coat over it. The scientist had long, platinum blonde hair framing her face.
"Professor Razael, thank you for reaching out to me with such short notice," spoke Tsegael.
"It's not a bother. The Admiral said you had concerns about a head injury?" replied the woman on the screen.
"Yes. I suffered on concussion upon return to base, hence the bandages here. I am told I should be okay by next week. But there is something else I'm worried about."
"Go on."
"When I sleep, I am greeted by what appears to be the person who was downloaded into me. If I recall correctly, you told me that shouldn't happen, and that the incoming consciousness should be completely suppressed. Is it possible a massive head injury would upset that? And will it go away after that injury heals?"
"I can't say for sure. This is the first time this experiment has succeeded. I would have to do a scan of your mind in order to be able to give you an answer. I can make an appointment with you to do so, but it would be two weeks at the earliest."
"I see. I was suppose to leave on my new ship next week. Is it still safe for me to do so?"
"I don't see why it wouldn't be. It is possible it's just from the injury. It could just as easily be your mind playing tricks on you. You were behind enemy lines for several months, right? That can have an effect on a person's mental state after a time. I'll meet you on your ship in two weeks. When I have a more exact time and date, I'll let you know."
"Very well. Thank you for your time, professor."
"Thank you for the update."
The screen in front of Tsegael changed to one saying the transmission had ended.
"Well, nothing else to do but walk about the ship, huh? Well... she's certainly big enough. At least three times the size of a heavy cruiser. I'm sure I could get some good exercise in."
Tsegael did as she was told. She spent her day walking around the ship, introducing herself to the people she would be serving with aboard the Ember. She opted to wait until the evening to tell Nerael about getting her posted to the Ember, as well. She was quite certain the smaller Arume woman would be happy to hear it. Later that evening, Tsegael and Nerael sat down to have dinner in their quarters.
"Welcome back, hun. I trust your day was the usual mundane?" asked Tsegael.
"As always. Yours?" asked Nerael.
"Boring. The Admiral has been asked by our doctors to not give me any real assignments this week. All I've been able to do is walk around the ship. It at least gave me some time to meet my future crew. They all seem like capable women. I'm sure they'll serve me well."
"I wish I could go with you."
"So do I, so... I asked the Admiral, and she said I should be able to have you come aboard as my operator!"
"Your operator?"
"Yes! I mean, you are qualified for it. I know you prefer to work with R&D on new technologies, and I will try to get an R&D staff aboard for installing and testing experimental equipment. I wouldn't want to waste that talent of yours, after all, but this means we won't be separated again for a long while."
"Oh, Tsegael. Thank you! Thank you much!" Nerael shouted for joy, before giving her wife a kiss on the lips.
Tsegael gave her wife a cheerful smile.
"Anything for you, my Nerael. The only thing we have to deal with is a visit from Professor Razael. She is trying to find a time to visit us in about two weeks. Just to make sure the experiment is working just fine. Wants to be sure the head injury didn't knock anything loose."
"I'm sure you'll be fine, dear."
"I'm sure, as well, but it never hurts to be certain."
"Of course."
Tsegael and Nerael enjoyed the rest of their evening together. They spent a lot of the night talking about different things that had happened in the months they were apart, before finishing the night off in different corners of their room. Tsegael enjoyed reading in her free time, while Nerael liked to tinker with computers and other gadgets. After their night in each other's company, they finally went to sleep.
Tsegael found herself in the white space once again. She looked around for her companion, but was happy to see there was no sign of him.
"Oh thank the Mother, he's finally gone," Tsegael said to herself.
"Nope, I'm just really, really small," came a really squeaky voice.
"Seigai? Where are you?"
"I'm right on your shoulder," came the squeaky voice again. Seigai hopped off the Arume woman's shoulder, and floated to her front, before changing to normal size.
"Ah, that's better," spoke Seigai.
"Did you just... change your size?"
"Yeah. I was bored waiting on you all day, so I decided to play around and see what all I could do in here by myself. Turns out, the answer is a lot more than you would think. I can play around with my size. I can transform my body. All kinds of fun stuff. I can't make copies, though. That one I cannot do."
"Why copies specifically?"
"To have someone to talk to while you are awake. At least, that's what I assume is happening when you disappear from here."
"Oh... lovely..."
"You think you're crazy, don't you?"
"That thought had crossed my mind."
"Well... maybe? I mean, you have me in your head, so that's a thing."
"You seem awfully calm and energetic. Weren't you telling me last time you were going to surprise me, or something?"
"I thought about it, but I decided to drop the tough guy act. For now. If I'm gonna be stuck inside your head, I may as well try and be nice with you, at least for a bit."
"It won't work, you know."
"What won't work?"
"I have all your memories. All your knowledge. I know what you know. You're trying to get on my good side, in some desperate attempt at taking over, right? That's what my memories from you are telling me."
"Hey, it's the duty of every prisoner of way to try to escape, so you can't exactly blame me."
"I suppose not, but still, I'm not letting you out."
"Okay, fine. Be that way. Can you at least tell me a little about yourself?"
"Huh?"
"Tell me about yourself."
Tsegael seemed surprised at the question. It wasn't what she was expecting to hear.
"Hey, you still there?" asked Seigai.
"Yes. Yes I am. Why do you want to learn more about me?"
"Well, seeing as you know everything about me, it seems only fair."
"Life isn't fair."
"You're right, it's not. Still wanna know, anyway."
"Oh... fine, it's not going to hurt anything. Better than you annoying me all night long. I suppose I should start with my name. Commander Tsegael, of the Arume navy. Currently, I'm recovering from an injury your comrades gave me. I will be taking command of one of our cruisers in the near future. I don't have a specific assignment yet."
"Neat. But I wanna know about you, not what you're up to. What you're doing isn't very helpful to me in here, ya know."
"I suppose. Where do I start? Well, I suppose I could tell you that my hobby is reading. I have a wife named Nerael..."
"You're married? Oh, tell me about how that happened."
"How I got married? Well, Nerael and I were childhood friends. We've known each other since we were small children. We would always spend as much time together as we could. We'd always be at one of our houses after school. And when we were old enough, we started dating. She was always into technology. I had an affinity for more older parts of our culture. I've always found reading to be quite relaxing. You can dive into a good book, and find yourself completely immersed in a world of the author's creation. Nerael was always working with computers, or some other gadget. Nerael wanted to join the navy. She said there were opportunities to work on and build new technologies for our people there. I couldn't stand the idea of being without her, so I joined. Turns out I had an aptitude for command, and ended up in my current position. The two of us got married during our time at the academy."
"Do you plan on adopting kids?"
"Adopting... oh, right, you don't know. Our species can create children between two women."
"Oh... so you have no men at all? Huh. I had just figured you guys had an opposite society from ours, where the women went to war, and the men stayed home with the kids."
"No, we're all women. And to answer your question, one day. Not right now, though. We'd like to get our careers going in the right direction first. I made the first great step when I was offered a position in covert ops, posing as one of you. Well... you, specifically, since your consciousness transferred over to me properly."
"Huh. I hope you didn't do anything to my people," Seigai said in a much more serious tone than he had been using.
"Relax, I didn't get the chance to do anything to your friends. They found me out before I had the chance."
"But you were going to?"
"I didn't infiltrate your organization just to say hi. My mission was to destroy your resistance movement from within."
"Resistance movement?"
"Ah, yes, you wouldn't know. They rebuilt one of our ships. They're using it right now to fight against us."
"Well, looks like the 'monkeys' aren't so easily swept away, now are we?"
"You know, this was a pleasant conversation up until now."
"Fine, fine. If my friends are safe from you, and you weren't able to do anything to them, then I guess I can go back to learning about you."
At that moment, Tsegael disappeared again.
"And... she's awake again. Back to trying to get out of here."
The next few days carried on much the same. Tsegael would wander the ship. She would chat with members of her future crew and with the admiral when she wasn't busy. She would walk around the ship, with no set destination in mind. At night, she would have conversations with Seigai. She would tell him more about her younger days, and the antics she had gotten into. Sometimes alone, and sometimes with Nerael. As the week continued, Seigai had a particular question on his mind.
"Welcome back," spoke Seigai, as Tsegael appeared before him again.
It had been six days since she returned to the Gigaal. She could finally wear her commander's cap, her bandages having been finally removed. This was the first time Seigai had seen her in her full uniform.
"Huh, nice hat," spoke Seigai.
"Thanks."
"So... there is something I want to know."
"Is there, now? I'm still not telling you about how intimacy with Nerael works."
"Huh? Oh, that? I've given up on learning about that. There's something else on my mind."
"Which is?"
"Is there any way you could share your senses with me?"
"What?"
"You know, like, let me see what you see? Hear what you hear? Feel what you feel? Something. Here, I can't feel a thing. And I'm sure my 'sight' is just an interpretation of our two consciousnesses talking to one another. If I'm going to end up hidden away in some corner of your mind somewhere soon, I'd like to at least experience the world one last time."
"Still trying to escape, huh?"
"What? Well, yes, but in case that doesn't work out, it would be nice to have something."
"You assume I can even do that. I don't come in here voluntarily, you know."
"Well... could you try?"
"Try? How? You know how this works?"
"No, but... I dunno, maybe there's a switch, or something? Or maybe if I put my hand on your back, or something."
"I... well... my back. You can only touch my back. Nothing else. And we can see what happens."
"Hey, hey, relax, you're spoken for. I ain't gonna touch what I shouldn't. I'm a gentleman."
"When you're sober."
"Hey, Hisoka beat me up each time. And I can't drink in here, anyway."
"Just... do it."
Seigai floated over to Tsegael, and rested his hands on her back. The Arume felt a little uncomfortable at being touched by a man, nevermind that he was a Forime.
"So... anything happening?" asked an annoyed Tsegael.
"I... kinda. I think. I dunno. Think about waking up, or something?"
Tsegael gave it a try. In an instant, she was out of the white space, and back in her bed with Nerael. She looked over at the clock, and noted it was about two in the morning.
"Urgh... don't know why I listened to that bastard. May as well visit the toilet..." Tsegael muttered to herself.
As Tsegael was conducting her business, she couldn't help shake the feeling she was being watched.
"I swear, I'll be happy when I kick that Forime monkey out of my head."
"You say something? Just trying to understand what I'm feeling... oh, is this what it's like to pee when you're a chick?" came a voice from inside Tsegael's head.
"Oh... give me a break..." muttered Tsegael.
"What? First time out of the box in months, and this is the first thing I get to experience. And it's... very mundane, but better than nothing."
"And I'm glad you find this all fascinating, but do you mind?"
"I mean, I'm you, right now. Kinda. I at least am sharing all of your senses. I see what you see. Hear what you hear, blah blah blah. You're still in control, though."
Tsegael held her tongue, finished her business, and got back into bed.
"Oh, she's quite cute. You did well for yourself, didn't you?"
"Don't get any ideas."
"I wasn't... okay, maybe I was."
"Get out of my head!"
"Huh... what's going on? Who are you talking to?" asked Nerael. She was woken by Tsegael's shouting.
"Oh dear. Busted," spoke Seigai.
"Shut up," spoke Tsegael.
"Shut up? What... what did I do?" asked Nerael.
"No, no, not you, hun. I was talking to... uh... um..." Tsegael was trying to think of something to say.
"She was talking to the person put inside her head, who someone woke up after she got that concussion," Seigai said, using Tsegael's body to say it.
"Wha... what..." stuttered Nerael.
"Hey, who gave you permission to use my body!?" shouted Tsegael.
"You didn't have an answer. I would have thought you would have told her by now."
Tsegael swore to herself. She decided it was now or never, and explained everything to Nerael. She took the whole thing very well. As well as she could, anyway.
"So... is this why Professor Razael is seeing you?" asked Nerael.
"Yes," answered Tsegael.
"Hey, wait, is she the one who put me in you? Are you trying to lock me up again?" asked Seigai, using Tsegael's body again.
As bothersome as it was, the explanation went a little easier if Tsegael let Seigai take over. She knew she was giving him what he wanted, but with Razael showing up next week, she was hoping it wouldn't matter for much longer.
"Yes, she is. And that is the plan. I'm crazy enough without someone inside my head," replied Tsegael.
"Do I get a say in this?" asked Seigai.
"No," answered Tsegael.
"But why not, though," asked Nerael.
"Huh?" asked Tsegael and Seigai.
"I mean, he's a free thinking, free feeling person, so shouldn't he get a say?" asked Nerael.
"Hun, they put him inside my head, so we could learn more about their culture and their tactics, as well as making it easier for me to perform infiltration missions. Not so we would have someone else to talk to and chat with at night," explained Tsegael.
"Or during the day," spoke Seigai.
"I'm not letting you out again!" shouted Tsegael.
"I get what you're saying dear, but... I don't know, it just feels... wrong," spoke Nerael.
"Well... what do you think I should do? I don't think this would be the best course of action. They'll question my mental stability. Relieve me of command," replied Tsegael.
"And they'll probably lock you away in a room with lots of padding, and give you a jacket with nice, long sleeves," added Seigai.
"I get what you're saying, but we don't do that here," spoke Tsegael.
"Well... I don't know, can you two... merge together into one person?" asked Nerael.
"Merge together?" asked Tsegael.
"Yeah, like... two become one," replied Nerael.
"I like her answer," spoke Seigai.
"Hey, hey! No! No, no, no, no, no! That would be... weird. Like, I wouldn't be me anymore!" shouted Tsegael.
"You already aren't you," answered Nerael.
"What do you mean?" asked Tsegael.
"The sword. Ever since you came back, you've had that sword on your person. You never did that before," spoke Nerael.
"Oh, you carry a sword, too?" asked Seigai.
"It's yours. I dunno, I just feel compelled to hold onto it," replied Tsegael.
"Is that all that's different about her?" asked Seigai.
"That's all I noticed this week. She's still the same woman I fell in love with, she just happens to... have an extra? I don't know, I actually find the whole thing exciting! It's like getting a brand new wife!" shouted Nerael.
"You... you stop being happy about that!" shouted Tsegael out of mock frustration.
"Honestly, I doubt much would change. After talking to you for... I dunno, six, eight hours night, it seems the two of us are pretty similar. Maybe that's why the machine worked on me? Or just dumb luck, but that we're already pretty similar is kinda funny. Hell, even our names are kinda similar. Sort of," explained Seigai.
"Urgh... well... I..." muttered Tsegael.
Nerael gave Tsegael a kiss on the lips to help calm her down.
"You are really convinced this is right, aren't you?" asked Tsegael.
"I can't think of a better option for you two," replied Nereal.
"This is all very sudden. Literally, I just decided to do an experiment, and see if he could share sense with me. I didn't think it would actually work. Can I at least think about it for a couple days? The doctor says I'm cleared to return to duty three days for now. Give me a couple to think this over, okay? I'm saying this to both of you," spoke Tsegael.
"It is up to you, dear. I'll go with what you want," spoke Nerael.
"I feel like I don't really have a choice in the matter, but... yeah, sure, two days," replied Seigai.
"Good... now... let's get back to sleep," spoke Tsegael.
Tsegael found, for the first time since she came back, that she was able to sleep without going to the white space. She didn't realize it until her alarm sounded several hours later.
"Huh... freedom at last?" asked Tsegael.
"Oh, hey, we're awake. You would not believe the dream I had last night," Seigai said inside Tsegael's head.
"Oh... no... please, Mother, no..." spoke Tsegael.
"Good morning... dear?" asked Nerael, upon seeing a look of dread on her wife's face.
"He's still here. He didn't go back. He's here to stay..." muttered Tsegael.
"Look, I'll do you a solid, and not take over your body while you're doing your normal stuff, since you're all worried about your career, and what not," replied Seigai, still in Tsegael's head.
"Thank the Mother... just... stick to watching," spoke Tsegael.
"So, there are still both of you here?" asked Nerael.
"Yeah, he's still here. He's just not taking over my body, so I can have a regular day. I guess... I better get going, then," spoke Tsegael, as she got out of bed.
Tsegael did her best to go about her day as she would have normally, even if she didn't have a Forime commander in her head watching her every move, and sharing her every experience. For the most part, Seigai stayed silent. He found it would be impractical for Tsegael to try to reply to him if he asked a question, and would rather not cause a disruption. He assumed if he was discovered, it would likely result in his being locked away deeper into Tsegael's head, something he did not want. This continued for the next two days, until Tsegael had finally reached a decision.
"I guess... we can try to merge," spoke Tsegael.
"Yeah, we should. Your jokes with the admiral are just terrible. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were as genocide happy as Kensuke," spoke Seigai, using Tsegael's body.
"Before I do this, though... Nerael... you'll still love me, right?" asked Tsegael.
"Of course. Now and always, my love. No matter what happens, I'll always love you. You don't need to worry. You'll still be you. Just a little different. And you'll always be you," replied Nerael.
"Alright... I guess... here," Tsegael said, while reaching for something she had put on her belt.
"What's this?" asked Nerael.
"A tranquilizer. It'll knock me out for however long you set it for. An hour is the lowest dose. I don't think it'll take longer than that," spoke Tsegael.
"Alright, Tsegael. See you when you get back," Nerael said, as she picked up the tranquilizer and used it on Tsegael.
The effect was instantaneous, and Tsegael was back in the white space with Seigai. Seigai still had his hands on her back, just as they were the last time there were here.
"Huh, back here again," spoke Seigai.
"Yeah..." muttered Tsegael.
"So... any ideas?" asked Seigai.
"I think so. But... damn it, I swear I'm doing this because it'll make Nerael happy. Honestly, the thought of doing this makes me sick to my stomach."
"Is it really so bad?"
"You're a Forime monkey, and you're a male. Two things I don't like already."
"Well, hey, miss high and mighty, I can think of better things, too. Hell, I don't know what you'll want to do after. On the one hand, you might want to go back to my comrades. On the other hand, you could use the knowledge you gain to cause more havoc. It could go either way. And that though nauseates me. But you know what's worse? Being locked in here forever, having to perpetually share a body with someone else. Not the way I wanted my life to end."
"Well... I guess... I dunno... I guess we lock hands together, and push into each other?"
"That sounds intimate."
"That's... well, you wanted to know how we have sex. Like that. Kinda. We become one that way, so... maybe that'll work here."
"Kinky. Well, I haven't had sex since before I entered the academy, so this ought to be interesting."
"Let's just get this over with," Tsegael spoke, as the pair of them put their hands together.
They interlocked each others fingers, and pushed into each other. Suddenly their clothes in the white space vanished, and a bright light formed between the two of them. The bright light overcame them both, until there was nothing left.
Tsegael snapped awake. She looked around at her settings. She took a quick look at Nerael, and immediately got up and went into the bathroom. She took a long look in the mirror.
"Hrm... hm... hm..." muttered Tsegael.
"Tsegael! Are you okay!?" shouted Nerael, making her way to the bathroom to check on her wife.
"I'm not every sure how to start to answer that question. Also... damn... I made two mistakes, I thought it was just the swords. No, I made another dumb mistake. No wonder Hisoka shot me."
"Are you... you?"
"I think so. I mean, I basically have two people's worth of memories. Seigai was older than Tsegael, so... I guess I have more of him, and yet I'm still me, and I still love you dearly, and... it's weird."
"So... now what?"
"Well... that depends. How much do you like your career in the Arume navy?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well... it's like this. Aside from you, there's no one I really care about here. I have some friends, and all, but you're the only one I love. Meanwhile, I have a lot of friends among... I guess since I'm an Arume, I'll say Forime. Yes, lots of friends among the Forime. And they're in a life or death struggle right now."
"I... what are you saying?"
"Look you don't have to do with me. I can just drop you off somewhere, and you can live your life in peace, if that's what you want. Or you can tell them I forced you to do it. Whatever you want to do. You don't have to betray our people with me."
"Tsegael... I... I will follow where you lead. You remember our oath to each other, right?"
"Like it was yesterday."
"Then we follow each other hand and hand, until death do we part. But... we'll have to kill a lot of our people, won't we?"
"Afraid so. Comes with taking the side of the Forime. Ekaril was able to do it," Tsegael said, before letting out a chuckle, "she did it out of love. She's still doing it out of love."
"I'm... going to miss this place."
"We both are, but my draw to the Forime is much stronger. I suppose there's only one thing left to do at this point," Tsegael said, before putting on her cape and cap.
"What's that?" asked Nerael.
"I'm going to give us an opportunity. Nerael, can you download a copy of this ships schematics? I want to see if there is some kind of weakness we can later exploit. Something that will give us a chance. It's a safe bet we'll have to enter into combat with this vessel at some point. I want to be as prepared for that day as possible."
"I can try, but what if I get caught."
"Let me worry about that. I'll give you my access codes. Just get the info. After you're done, we'll go to the Ember. The two of us can operate the ship without a crew. And we wouldn't want to drag more of our people into this, anyway."
Nerael nodded.
"I... I'm sorry for dragging you into this."
"No, don't be. I told you two to merge together. I was willing to accept the results. I just... trapping someone into oblivion is just wrong. I told myself I'd accept the consequences, whatever they were. If this is that, then so be it."
"Alright, but just keep in mind you can back out at any point. Love can persist across enemy lines."
"You say that, but you don't believe it. Look, I don't need your protection. It must be the Forime in you, trying to protect a little girl, but the Arume in you knows better. I made my choice. I'll be fine."
"Then, let's get to it, then."
Unlike Tsegael's usually rounds that day, Tsegael followed Nerael to her station in the R&D wing of the ship. Tsegael discretely entered in her access codes, while Nerael grabbed a data crystal. She had no problem with getting the information she needed, and quickly took the data crystal back. The pair left the room, and made their way towards the Ember. They ran into Admiral Tobael on their way.
"Ah, good day admiral. Any good news from the front?" asked Tsegael.
Admiral Tobael drew a pistol, and pointed it straight at Tsegael's head, prompting her to do the same.
"So... how did you find out?" asked Tsegael.
"I've been watching you since you came back onto the ship. It was pretty boring work, until a few days ago. Watching you talk to yourself while you were using the bathroom was an odd sight, until you explained what happened to Nerael. And then it all made sense. Of course, that wasn't enough to concern me greatly. Not at first. If you simply just waited for Razael to suppress that Forime again, everything would have been alright. But you just had to go and merge your consciousnesses. And this morning I hear you talking about insurrection. And for what? Some Forime? They'll be dead soon enough. We've tracked them down to where they are hiding, and are sending three ships to destroy Blue once and for all. They're not going to survive an assault from two heavy cruisers and a battle cruiser, and you know it."
"No, I don't suppose they would... but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try. I will miss our friendly banter about how to rule the Forime. It was fun talking about all the cruel things we could do to them. The circus idea was a personal favorite of mine, but now that I am what I am now... those jokes don't seem as funny as they once did."
"You won't survive. If you leave here, now, you'll be hunted down with the rest. You'll die a traitor's death."
"We all have to die at some point, right?"
"Think about your wife. Do you really want to bring her into this."
"I made my choice, Admiral," spoke Nerael.
"You heard her," added Tsegael.
"That's too bad, then," spoke Tobael.
"Yeah, it is," Tsegael said, as she pulled the trigger. White blood spattered on the walls of the corridor.
"We better get moving, they're gonna send the troops after us now," Tsegael said, before making a run for it, grabbing Nerael while doing so.
"Did you really have to kill the admiral like that?" asked Nerael.
"It was her or us, but if it makes you feel any better, that wasn't her," replied Tsegael.
"What do you mean?"
"It was just an Emil Force."
"What? But... how can you tell?"
"They're just projections of our thoughts. In our minds, we aren't the same as we are physically. There's always something missing, or something different when we try to recreate ourselves with an Emil Force. It's usually something subtle. For example, eye color being just a little off. In the case of the admiral back there, she didn't have that little beauty mark on her upper lip. Emil forces are great to use from a distance, but an educated person won't fall for them upfront, no offense, hun."
"None taken, dear."
The pair quickly made it to the hanger, and took a shuttle to the Ember. The pair immediately ran for the bridge.
"Ember! Raise shields, and spin up the Emil Force Drive. Attempt to locate this signal, Tsegael said, while entering in information into her console.
"Acknowledged," spoke Ember's computer.
"Nerael, shift us when ready," spoke Tsegael.
"Will do... receiving a transmission from Gigaal. Do you want me to put it through?" asked Nerael.
"Yeah, sure," replied Tsegael.
The former spy wasn't too surprised to see the image of Admiral Tobael on the screen.
"This is your last chance. Next time you enter the space around this ship, you'll be blasted out of the sky. Think carefully what you're doing here. You're giving up your career for a cause with little chance of succeeding," spoke Tobael.
"Even if the odds aren't in my favor, Admiral, it doesn't matter. I have a cause worth dying for. For us, sacrifice is the most beautiful of acts, is it not?" asked Tsegael.
"It's only beautiful if it's for the right cause. For you? It's just a pointless death," replied Tobael.
"If that's what you believe. We'll let the history books make that decision for us," Tsegael said, as Ember shifted, cutting off the transmission.
Admiral Tobael sat at her station, looking at where the Ember was just moments before.
"Go ahead, then, Tsegael. If only you knew what was in store for you," spoke Tobael to herself, "go ahead and try if you must, and when you fall into our trap, don't say I didn't warn you."