Keith has a target on his back, or at least it feels that way to him. Maybe in a previous life, the young man had either worked for or been the leader of a people bent on conquest through death and destruction. The Mongols, the Huns, or even Ancient Persians under the command of Cyrus. Whatever the cause, he did not want to open his eyes.
From the pounding in his head and generalized aches throughout his body, he must have hit hard after ejecting from Black. He tried to reach out through their bond, but it only caused his head to feel like a mini-nuclear bomb exploded inside it. Until some kind of healing happened, it meant no reaching out to his bonded half.
Wanting to remain unconscious to escape from the screaming agony of his head which currently dwarfed any other pain from his body, Keith's mind had already started working out where he had landed and what he needed to do to reach the rest of the paladins. As he drifted further toward consciousness and opening his eyes, he realized two things. One: he no longer wore armor or even his under armor and lay bare on a cold, metal surface; and two: shackles pinned his arms and legs to the surface.
The Black Paladin stubbornly kept his eyes closed. The longer he kept the closed, the longer he could deny reality. Just like a toddler refusing to swallow the food they did not like. He concentrated on listening through the pounding noise in his head to figure out which faction of the Galra empire gave him such splendid hospitality. Gah. I sound like Lance. Picking up on that sarcastic streak of his. Which I did not need to do.
"The monitors tell me you hover near consciousness, half-breed. It does you no good to avoid your fate." The voice sounded like it came from somewhere on Keith's right side.
Attempting to open his eyes, he found only the left eye would open. The right opened slightly, but he could only make out a blurry purple figure. Blinking did not clear up his visions or open his eyes any wider. Great. Two black eyes. That accounts for some of the pain in my head. Guessing I have a concussion. If only my head would stop for a moment so I could assess the rest of me.
"Hmmm. Interesting."
Keith could see some movement from the blurry figure. Then it moved closer and leaned over Keith's face only inches away. The movement caused the paladin's stomach to roll, and he closed his eye, swallowed hard to keep the nausea at bay. He did not want to asphyxiate because he could not roll to his side.
"Well, those are interesting readings. Tell me half-breed, what exactly are you feeling right now? Your face went even paler and it seems you suffer from some sort of digestive distress."
Keith gritted his teeth and swallowed hard, concentrating on keeping his stomach contents IN his stomach.
"Fascinating. This must be a human reaction. Can you tell me what you are reacting to?"
Losing the battle, Keith turned his head to the side and his stomach contents erupted. He could feel it splatter onto the metal surface and back onto his face and underneath his cheek. His one semi-good eye teared until he could no longer see anything but blurry colors. The smell of his own vomit caused his stomach to heave repeatedly until nothing further emerged except thin bile, which burned the back of his throat. The agony in his head increased exponentially and his awareness shrank to trying to turn his head away from the smell and praying he would pass out to escape the torment.
True to form, he could not find relief in unconsciousness. He managed to turn his head away from the puddle of his own sick but could not escape the smell or the feeling of it dripping down his cheek into his ear and hair. His stomach started rolling again.
Dimly a voice reached his ear. He felt a sharp pain and then blackness claimed him.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
Grolok looked at the prisoner, not understanding what had just happened and could only surmise it had something to do with the human physiology of the mutt. Looking at the assistant, the Galra's nose wrinkled nose at the smell. "Wash it thoroughly and clean the mess. Let me know when it starts to stir again."
"Yes, Grolok. Vrepit Sa."
"Vrepit Sa." Grolok exited to the observation room to examine the readings taken before and after the mutt had regained consciousness. The Galra scientist muttered while scanning through the data, not understanding. Why had the half-breed expelled the contents of the stomach and did the human species have some sort of feedback loop that caused it to continue. The Galra just did not have enough data on humans. What little they had came from the two inferior specimens captured with the champion. The druids had experimented on the champion making the data skewed and suspect. Grolok really wanted and needed some fresh human specimens not tainted by the druids to dissect. The mongrel would not give a real sense of the species because of its mixed parentage. With no other Galra/Human mongrels, the Galra would have to ensure any procedures did not cause permanent damage to the specimen which limited experiments to non-invasive procedures only. Disappointed, Grolok left to find a meal before the experiment awoke.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
"Bundle. . . engla forgrun. . . minimal damage…"
Keith started to pick up words and sounds. As he began regaining consciousness, he realized several things. One, he only heard the Galran used commonly throughout the empire for standard communications. Which meant somewhere along the way, someone had either confiscated his translator, or it had ceased functioning. The paladin leaned toward the former since Coran had explained the near indestructability the translators. He had learned much Galran from the Blades, but not enough to understand everything, especially technical terminology.
Two, someone had cleaned him up because he no longer smelled vomit or felt the acidic puddle under his cheek.
Three, he still lay on the metal table sans clothing.
Four, he really did not want to open his eyes, because his head still pounded, drowning out any other sensations from his body. He could hear two voices and tried to piece together what they said from the words he did understand through the pain.
"Show the hruluk gaining consciousness. Showing elevated something. May have to something."
"It will not waste resources, because I need the data pure, and this current condition of the hruluk prevents that."
"As you command."
Keith tried not to scream as he felt lightening through his veins and head. It could have lasted seconds or minutes and left him panting with tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"Interesting. Something head Something damaged."
"Agreed. Reinstall? something"
"Yes."
Keith realized his head no longer hurt, and he felt quite good except for the lingering spasms in his muscles. He tried to open his eyes only to realize something covered them and kept them closed. He felt something grab either side of his jaw to force it open. Instinctively he fought, until something closed over his nose and he needed to breath. Something attached to his back molar and he could understand what the Galra said.
"Bite me and you will regret it. Do you understand my words now?"
Keith did not answer. He felt something cover his nose and mouth. Trying to thrash brought the knowledge that his captors had restricted all movement, including his head. It did not take long for his vision to turn grey on the edges. Just as Keith thought he would suffocate, whatever blocked his face moved. He gasped in breaths like a beached shark, the grey and black slowly receding from his vision. "I will ask again. Do you understand my words?"
Keith swallowed trying to wet his mouth. "Ye-es," came the croaked response.
"Good. You will answer my questions without delay or you will be punished. Am I clear?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. Then we shall begin."
Keith felt a small needle in his left shoulder.
"Injected administered at 7.34 standard time."
The paladin felt air move as the Galra around him moved back from the table. He heard a low conversation he could not quite hear or understand. Keith's head started to feel slightly detached from his shoulders and he could almost feel cold moving through his veins.
It started with a small tingle in his left foot. Almost like it had started to fall asleep. Then it spread to his right foot. He tried twitching his toes to wake them up but could not even tell if they moved. The feeling spread up through his legs, groin, abdomen, into his arms like his whole body had started to fall asleep. The tingles started to increase in intensity and almost pain. Keith clenched his teeth and struggled to move a single finger. In the next instant, his feet felt as though they had caught fire. The sensation crawled up legs, groin, and abdomen. It must have spread to his arms as well, but the excruciating pain from his groin and feet blocked out any other sensations.
He could not even scream. He could hear nothing beyond the torment. It felt like acid eating through his skin to his muscles and even his bones. His detected the scent of burning flesh and the sensation of his skin bubbling and popping as it cooked. Keith had burned his hand once when he tried to rescue a potato that had fallen into the campfire. His skin had blistered immediately. Feeling his skin blister and pop made that pain feel like a mosquito bite in comparison.
He tried to breathe, to move, to do anything to find a moment of respite. He could see nothing through whatever covered his face, could hear nothing past the roaring in his own ears. The smell of burning flesh grew stronger until he could taste the ashes on his tongue. He could feel the ashes travel into his lungs as his breaths grew shorter and increasingly frantic. Into the chaos, a singular point of pain started in the middle of his chest, growing in intensity. Keith had no breath, no thoughts, nothing but agony surrounding him. Then everything stopped.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
"Interesting. The entire nervous system has accelerated beyond what I could have predicted. The heart rate has increased substantially and the mongrel shows signs of incipient cardiac failure. Its pain threshold far surpasses anything I have measured in other species but does not seem to have a fail-stop when the upper limits are reached. Interesting."
Grolok watched dispassionately as the creature strapped to the table spasmed and screamed. They would paralyze the vocal chords the next time as the noise grew increasingly distracting. The entire body of the mutt grew taught. The bands and force field kept it from moving but it grew substantially louder and more distracting.
Grolok's assistant, Nav's nose wrinkled at the high-pitched keening. "It seems to have inherited the worst of both its parent's ability to make noise. Grolok, the heart seems to be in some kind of distress. The rhythm has become erratic and beats per dobash is increasing.
"Hmmm. Watch that, as we do not want the subject to expire on the first experiment. Call in one of the druids if we need to revive it."
"Already done, Grolok, One waits in the observation room."
"Excellent."
The three Galra continued to monitor the progress of the experiment. The heartrate of the subject continued to rise from 100 beats per dobash until it reached over 250 beats per dobash. The creature gave a shudder and its heart ceased to beat.
"Hmmm. Interesting. Ok. Inject the counter to the stimulator. It would not do to revive the experiment only to have the heart fail again."
"Yes, Gorlok. It also seems to have soiled itself again"
"Hmm, must be some sort of reflex from the human side." As the two worked to stabilize their experiment, the druid drifted into the room. Without speaking, the druid waited until Gorlok gave him a nod, then a ball of purple quintessence floated over to the mongrel to his heart. With a large gasp, the subject began breathing again, and the heart restarted at a slower pace. The drugs injected into it countered the overstimulation of the nervous system to keep the subject disoriented and experiencing some stimulation but not enough to stop the heart again.
The Druid stepped back as the other two continued to take measurements and recorded their observations. The half-breed did not stir after the initial gasp beyond occasional involuntary twitches.
Nav quickly scrolled through the data, "It shows very low quintessence as well as low energy. I would hazard it needs sustenance to facilitate healing. I can easily give it substance through its mouth like a baby Hrrolna."
"Proceed. Inject the remainder of the counter." Gorlok kept a portion of awareness on the Druid standing behind him. Rumors stated it answered directly to Honerva, who had an interest in the Paladins. Gorlok did not want to lose this experiment too soon and needed to continue to produce useful data.
The Druid said nothing; only hovered in the background watching everything happening. Nav once again cleaned the subject then inserted a tube down its throat to add some sustenance to its stomach. It tried to fight the tube, but a small burst across its nerves still sensitive from the first experiment caused it to still. Liquid still leaked from the corners of its eyes, and Gorlok made a note to interrogate the creature as to the cause.
The experiment could not stay conscious long, and within one half varga, the three Galra left the prisoner in the room. The Druid disappeared in a flash of purple light while Gorlok and Nav sat to analyze the data they had gathered.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
Keith had briefly awakened to the sensation of something sliding down his throat into his esophagus. Instinctively, he tried to fight it, but a burst of pain and a half-heard admonition to remain still countered it. He tried to follow the conversation happening above him, but still felt disoriented from whatever torture had happened. As they continued to shove the tube down his throat, his eyes watered from the sensation and tore his concentration away. He needed to escape but could not even move his fingers. Small shocks of sensation continued throughout his body, most notably in his feet and groin area. The paladin knew he needed to escape, but he could not move, had no clothing, no idea who had captured him or when. He must have a concussion because he remembered being in Black and then. . . nothing. Trying to remember made his head pound again and more tears leak from his eyes.
Giving up, he let unconsciousness take him away from his body.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
The next time Keith awakened; he found the two Galra standing over him again. They kept firing questions at him between shocking various points on his body. He tried to answer but could not make his mouth form the words. All he managed to produce sounded like whines from a young animal or grunts. He did not know what they had done, but he could not make the words form. It continued until once again, he passed out from pain.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
Keith's world shrunk to various stages of pain. He saw a druid more than once who would send purple quintessence into him. It simultaneously healed some of the damage caused by the other two Galra and left Keith feeling sick and disoriented. It did not take long before they stopped asking questions. He knew that waking with a tube down his throat meant they gave him nourishment to sustain him for more tests. His skin became chapped from the rough treatment they used to keep him clean. The cleansing solution felt like acid against his skin and Keith started to wish for longer sessions between baths. It left his skin feeling extra sensitive, and any touch made him shudder with painful sensations.
They never let him change positions and his muscles started to atrophy, adding another horrible stimulus to his already sensitized nervous system. Sores formed, scabbed, tore, and eventually received healing from the Druid when they started to show signs of infections.
Keith did not hope for rescue any longer, only an end to the experiments.
He did not fight the hands or any of the equipment or tests. It did not help and often only made things worse. Keith retreated deep into his mind, distancing himself from the physical. Even though things looked hopeless, he tried to reach out to Black, Red, or Allura, or any of the Paladins. He could not stop trying any more than he could force himself to stop breathing.
As he retreated further into himself, he found the path leading to his lion had a wall blocking it. At least, in his mind it looked like a wall. Studying it, Keith realized if he broke the wall or made a hole, help might come.
Clinging on to the last bit of hope, he started to chip away at the foundation of the wall, hoping to create a gap. He worked quietly and stealthily because he did not want whatever or whoever had erected the barrier to realize he had started to create a hole.
Vaguely, Keith realized his body's condition continued to deteriorate. Particularly intense sessions would draw him from his hiding place in his mind back to become present in his body. He hated those times because it only meant pain and degradations. The Galra had started to figure out how to separate out painful stimuli from pleasurable stimuli. The latest round had them flashing between the two sensations at random and for indeterminate amounts of time. Keith could not keep himself working on the wall with his concentration shattered by either intense pain or euphoric bouts of pleasure. He started to crave the moments of euphoria as a brief respite from agony.
He kept working on the hole. One flake at a time. Quietly.
Pain.
Pleasure.
Another flake removed.
Agony.
Euphoria.
Another flake removed.
Until finally, he removed a flake and saw a pin prick gap. Without waiting to consider the consequences, he sent the loudest cry for help he could generate.
The entire wall flashed red.
Keith fell back into his body, screaming as wave after wave of torment passed through his head to his body and back. The red mist built until Keith felt a large pain in his chest and everything stopped.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
"How long do we keep him in suspended animation?"
"Until we can figure out how to reverse the damage the Galra and the Druids did," Coran responded to Lance in an uncharacteristic serious tone. "The torture they put him through made his nervous system respond as if they physically hurt him, but without actually damaging his body, except his heart but that was easily repaired."
"So, essentially," Pidge responded while pushing up the glasses frames she continued to wear, "They made his brain think they were using torture?"
"Yes, Number 5. Additionally, I can see they also intertwined the pleasure and pain centers of the brain, making the inputs go haywire. He would feel both, neither, or one or the other at any given time."
"That's, that's, that's, "Hunk spluttered. "I mean, who DOES that? And WHY?"
Shiro placed a hand on Hunk's shoulder, "Those kind of beings see anyone not like them as lesser, as data points and not as living creatures with minds or feelings. They see only a thing for experiments. I am just grateful Red finally found Keith when he did."
"Why did he reach out to Red and not Black?" Lance inquired.
"I think," Shiro began slowly, "because Red had come to his rescue and in our distress, we reach out for help where it has come before."
The current Red Paladin nodded, "That makes sense. I know Red still misses flying with Keith sometimes. He and I do amazing things together but he and Keith had a different kind of bond. Normally, I would feel jealous and probably make an ass of myself, but right now, I am just quiznacking grateful. . ." Lance trailed off then offered a wobbly smile, "I know, I am not using that word right."
The group all let out watery chuckles and looked at the Black Paladin, in suspended animation in the cryo pod. The pod did not find anything to repair, but Keith had only whimpered or cried when they had him out of the pod. Any touch on his skin elicited mixed reactions until no one could stand to see him like that. It would take time, but they would find a way to reset his body and his nervous system. Shiro laid a hand on the pod, bowing his head. "Hang in there, Keith. It will take time, but we have the best healers working on the problem."
Allura came to stand beside Shiro after shooing the other Paladins out of the room. "We. . . we WILL find a solution Shiro. He found a way to reach Red, and he hung on somehow until we could rescue him. Just have faith."
"How can you be so sure, Allura? How can you know we can help him come back from this one? They have literally turned his entire body into something that causes only the extremes of pleasure or pain. What kind of damage has that done to his mind?"
"Because I have seen how strong Keith is, Shiro. His light burns bright, regardless of how much he tries to hide. He never gives up, never doubts, and always moves forward. I know. . . a little . . . of his childhood from what you have shared and the few things he has let slip. He took the strong foundation from his father and then built it up with his relationship with you."
Shiro laughed, "You make him sound like someone too good to be true. Just remember, my relationship with my young padawan there started when he stole my car. He can and does lie when it suits his purpose, and his prickly exterior is not just for show. He does not have much patience, and his temper, well, you have seen it."
Allura placed a hand on the pod, "And he is young. Even younger than his Earth years because in Galran terms, he is still, what word does Hunk use, a Tobder?"
"Toddler?"
"Yes, that one," Allura waived her free hand, "Toddler. He has the human half growing up at ten times the pace of the Galran half. No wonder he seems all over the place. You do not often see the short-lived species able to reproduce with the long-lived ones. It often causes. . . complications. But it also means his brain is still very malleable, which is why Coran is confident we can reverse the damage the Galra caused. Have faith, Shiro."
Shiro bowed his head until it rested against the pod. "I will try Allura. I just want my brother back."
Allura said nothing and rubbed Shiro's back as he let the tears fall.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
Keith floated. He kept his mind tucked into the smallest area he could, creating and recreating fantasies and memories. Time lost meaning. He occasionally felt bursts of pleasure or pain or both at the same time, but he started learning how to distance himself further from his body. The paladin considered the ramifications of not keeping himself grounded physically, but Keith simply could not continue to experience the extreme sensations. Better to not feel. The wall had returned, this time glowing not only red, but laced with purple. He tried to remove a flake, only to find himself violently flung back into his body and blocked from retreat. A second wall had sprung up to block him from his hiding place in his mind. It forced him to stay more present in his body or rather, what passed for his body. At some points, someone had loosened the bindings around his arms, legs, and waist, freed his head from its singular position. It made no difference to Keith, his muscles twitched and spasmed with no pattern, and even if he could somehow escape the bindings, the paladin knew he lacked the physical coordination to even roll to one side.
They had done someone to his vocal chords so that any sound would send reverberations through his body. Any vocalizations louder than a normal speaking voice ended with painful stimuli while all other ones resulted in pleasurable sensations. He had started whispering to himself when the Galra left the room just to give some surcease to the constant pain.
Keith faded in and out of consciousness; his world reduced to sensation. He could no longer retreat into his mind, but it did not matter because he no longer had any thoughts to protect.
After a time, he heard an unusual commotion, then the sensations changed. The solid feeling of the table underneath him disappeared and the feeling of something soft under him appeared. He whimpered at the pleasure of something soft caressing his skin until it because as unbearable as pain. Then every brush of the material against his skin became pain-filled until he fell unconscious again.
He roused once again as he felt someone brush against his mind but lack any ability to understand or respond to the strange feeling. Something encased his body, constantly brushing against his skin until he whimpered in an effort to keep from screaming. He felt something moving parts of his body into different positions. Finally, he felt nothing around himself. Tears of relief from feeling anything flowed down his cheeks until darkness closed over his mind.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
Allura stood in front of the pod holding Keith, hand resting on the pod, eyes closed as she reached out, trying to untangle the knots the Galra had left of the paladin's Quintessence. Coran had sent the profile of Keith's blood analysis to several different of the allied planets to try and back-analyze the substances polluting his system. Thus far, no one had reported seeing these particular combinations used. Complicating everything, while the healers had much experience with Galra and Galra hybrids, no one had any experience with humans. Humans. Who seemed to defy the nature of intelligent species. They had short lives, and a biologic structure that did not match with most known species. They could and did fight with wounds that stopped other creatures, healed faster, and for all their perceived softness, fought with viciousness when defending others while disregarding their own safety.
They had told the other paladin's Keith experienced suspended animation, but the words did not adequately translate. They had slowed Keith's metabolism to a near hibernation stage but did not dare put him in a truly suspended state as they did not know how well the human physiology would cope. Allura also needed to trace the patterns of the quintessence to relay to the healers. Coran reported with Keith suspended in the pod without anything touching him had resulted in fewer spasms and a slight lessening of the stimulation delivered to the nervous system. From the colors of Keith's quintessence, the sensations running rampant ranged from extreme euphoria to agony and sometimes both at the same time. The Galra had done some rewiring in his brain to intertwine the sensations and confuse his senses. She had left the blindfold over his eyes to prevent the light from damaging them. Coran reported Keith could not differentiate between sound, sight, or other sensations.
Allura stood by the pod carefully moving one line of quintessence at a time to try and realign it to the correct flow. Coran monitored her carefully, because it would take many sessions to manipulate things back to normal and it would take even longer if she exhausted herself in the process. They requested the other Paladins to stay out of the room while Allura worked to avoid distractions as she did the delicate task. Realistically, they wanted to keep the room as stimulation free as possible. The other humans, excepting Shiro, could not remain quiet and still for long; perhaps because of their youth or simply because humans could not stop moving. Even their sleep, their brains remained active and they 'dreamed.' Alteans could enter a meditative state that resembled the sleep of humans, but without the varying levels of consciousness humans experienced.
Alllura gasped and dropped to her knees, one hand raising to cover her pounding chest the other sliding down the pod until she leaned her head against it. Coran rushed over, nearly tripping on his feet in the process. "Princess?"
Gasping for a few breaths Allura opened her eyes. "I felt, for just a moment, what Keith has been feeling." She turned to lay her head against Coran's chest as his arms came around her in comfort, "Oh Coran. I do not even have the words for such cruelty. I do not know how we can help him back from this place. It is pure sensation and elements of both agony and extasy mixed together until they cannot be pulled one apart from the other. Unfocused, random, and without any discernable pattern. I cannot fathom how Keith held himself together to call for help amid that. How can we teach him to separate those sensations?"
Coran did not answer right away, instead shifted until his head rested against the pod. He shifted Allura until she curled up with him the way she had as a child seeking comfort. He ran his hand over her head, thinking. "This is not any area I have studied. I think we will have to consult some experts. It does not help that the human nervous system is so strangely configured or that the Galra part of him has not even reached that of a young child. I suspect, it will take some reprogramming, not as severe as what the Galra did, but it will be a long and not pleasant road."
"What about Voltron? Will Keith be able to pilot soon? They had him for nearly 2 phoebs."
Coran remained silent once again. "I cannot answer that Allura. But remember, we have only returned for just over a decaphoeb. In that time, many planets have stepped up their resistance and more continue to join. I think if we support with the other lions, we have some time. Zarkon had 10,000 years to build his empire, it will take time to reverse things. The other consideration, which you do not want to hear, is that it may be that the structure of the empire remains. In and of itself, the organization the Galra have brought and there systems of administration. . . ." Coran trailed off with a large sigh. "That is neither here nor there. The important thing, Black has not started looking for a new paladin, so he believes Keith will recover. The connection still exists."
"What about his brain scans from before? Can those be used to reset it to normal?"
Coran hnnned and twirled his moustache with his free hand. "Maybe. I have been talking with the healers and there is much consulting going on in the background. Our Black Paladin has touched more people than he knows, I think."
"What do you mean, Coran? He is always standoffish when we have any interactions with leadership, comes across as surly, and abrupt. And that is when he bothers to speak at all. He always disappears from any of the diplomatic functions we must attend as Voltron and I have to make excuses for him all the time. Frankly, he can be quite embarrassing."
Coran gently set the Princess to the side so he could look her in the face, "Did you ever bother to ask where he goes? Or what he does?"
She shrugged, looking confused, "I assumed he came back to the castle and either trained or did something with you."
"No. He goes and sits with his lion. He usually keeps communications with me open because the translators do not always work and he struggles talking to people. But what he does Princess, is let the common people of the planet come and see a Paladin and see a lion. Give them something tangible. Have you really thought about how truly young Number Four is? In human terms he is around 20 decaphoebs. Technically an adult, but for us and the Galra? What would you call a 20 decaphoeb Altean?"
Allura blinked slowly before replying, "A child. Old enough to dress themselves but. . . a child. Oh."
"Exactly. You know who comes to talk to him when he sits with his lion? Well of course you don't, you are not like a Bleefer colony with eyes in many places. The children of the planets, Allura. They come to see the lion and stay to ask his paladin question after question. Number Four may not deal well with adults, but he will sit and answer the children's questions until their parents fetch them home. The adults often treat him with suspicion and derision which he returns in kind. Number Four is as prickly as a dernong tree when it grows fruit and one of the most untrusting and suspicious beings I have ever met. And one of the kindest."
"Oh." Allura slowly turned until she sat with her back against the pod, head laying on Coran's shoulder. He held her hand in both of his, letting her take comfort from the gesture. "And how does he do with the children?"
She felt Coran wince, "Well, Princess, he is learning, but is clumsier than a drunk Galatian during mating season. It is fortunate that children are more forgiving than adults and do not look for hidden meanings behind his clumsy explanations."
"How did it start?"
"Accidentally. Remember Planet Crylok? How the leaders would not speak while he stayed in the room, contaminating it? He could not come back to the castle but could not stay with you, so he ended up wandering around the market looking for something to eat. Well, you know how Crylok children are – petted and indulged. A group of them started trying to touch him and feel the strange looking fur on top of his head. That went as well as a Fulgar charging a rock formation because it offered insult. He ended up backed in a corner and Red responded to his panic. One thing led to another and Keith ended up sitting on one of Red's paws, while the children climbed over the other one, touching and asking question after question. Somewhere along the way, one of the parents came and offered Keith the food and drink he had left behind, running from the children. It was awkward to witness and I had to slap myself on the forehead more than once because of Number Fours word choice and terrible communication skills, but when the parents finally collected the children, he left behind a positive perception of Voltron."
The pair sat in silence as Allura thought about what Coran said. Finally, Allura spoke, "So, sometimes when planets from one day to the next have changed their attitude to Voltron?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
"Bear in mind, Number Four is still awkward like a pregnant Glufor waddling toward a nesting ground, but at least he is better than a drunk Juler trying to ride a Shandor."
A comfortable silence fell over the room. After some time, Allura withdrew her hand and turned to stand in front of the pod, a new look of determination on her face. Coran smiled and twirled his moustache before returning to his station to monitor both the boy and the Princess, completely satisfied with the bit of growing up he had just witnessed in his monarch and pseudo daughter.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
Time slowed to a near stop. He did not notice until the constant sensations terminated for the first time since he had managed to call to Red. He carefully and painfully drew the bits of himself he could find into a tight ball and then found a quiet corner of his mind to hide and recover. He drifted without formed thoughts or feeling his body.
As his bits of self reknit together, he peeked out of his hiding place to try and find more. One of those small pieces gave him a name, 'Keith' and then a second and a third.
'Akira.'
'Kogane.'
The names because a trickle of bits of information he could gather until he found a memory and more words.
'Dad.'
'Garrison.'
'Red.'
That one gave him feelings of warmth and fire, support and challenge.
'Black.'
That evoked a feeling of immense strength and stability.
Occasionally pulses from his physical body interrupted him and scattered some of the hard gathered pieces. Keith did not understand why he felt urgency to gather the bits instead of letting everything dissipate until nothing remained, but he followed the feeling and gathered and gathered amidst the interruptions.
Flake by flake, speck by speck, he collected himself.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
"It has been nearly a phoeb, why does Keith not look at all better than when we found him?" Shiro asked in frustration both his artificial and flesh hands clenched in fists on the table.
Lance, Pidge, and Hunk all chimed in with various questions around the same theme. Coran just sat at the head of the table, twirling his moustache, and letting the children vent their vexations. The four talked on top of one another hands waving in the air as they tried to make a point, fingers shaking. After a few dobashes, Coran gently cleared his throat and waved both hands in the air, "You four ask more questions than a Hlana hatchlings after molting. Now then, Number Four may not look better to you, but rest assured he has made significant progress. Allura reported that some of the quintessence, er, knots, have either been unknotted or excised through none of her own efforts. The Unlin have finally decoded all the chemicals that the Galra used on Number Four and have started work with the Tyr to synthesize something that should work similarly to remap his pathways the Galra corrupted."
"But what does that MEAN, Coran?" Lance waved his hand in front of him, "Blah, blah, pathways, blah blah quintessence knots, when will he come out?"
"It MEANS, youngling, that Number Four has started to become aware again. He has started to recognize the wrong patterns in his body and attempting to help straighten them out. It means that the chance of recovery has jumped from the chance of a Yugg making it to the sea after hatching to the chance of a Plogra hunting successfully." Coran just smiled to himself and ignored the muttered comment that his correlations would make more sense if they knew what that meant. "And we knew few changes would be seen since the pods had nearly zero physical damage to repair. The Tyr think they can have the remapping compounds ready in another movement. Which is why we will start the trip to their planet now. It will take several shorter jumps to make it to their planet than normal, if we wish for Allura to continue to make progress with Number Four."
Lance scratched his head, "But I thought the Galra had warped his brain path waves and his nervous system. So why can't the pods fix this?"
Hunk raised his hand, "Oooh, I think I know this one! It's like a really tangled net. The strands are not broken but the tangles mean it does not work right or at all. But if you can untangle it, then it should work right again!"
Coran nodded, "Something like that, Number 2. A bit more complicated but you have the idea. The pathways and nerves are not physically broken, so the pods do not recognize any damage to fix."
"Huh. Well, it seems like they should notice things are not in the right place and move it back, right? Or does not match older scans and should rearrange things back in place?" Lance asked, "Like putting a puzzle together."
"Except that things are not necessarily in the wrong places or connected wrong. Which is a large part of the problem? Is that right Cornan?" Shiro inquired.
"Right-o Number One."
Pidge adjusted her glasses while typing into her tablet. "So, can we do anything to help? Is there any programming needing to be done? Can I help with DNA sequencing or brain tracing and patterning?"
Allura shook her head slowly, "We have the patterns from before the Galra experimented on him, and the Unlin and Tyr already have their best healers working on the programming. Truly, if Keith had not been the only known human/Galra hybrid in existence AND been raised as a human away from any of the longer-lived peoples, and had a unique chemistry, and, well, the list continues as to Keith's circumstances. The end result would have been the Galra could not have warped things like they did."
Shiro let out a rueful chuckle, "I swear that kid is going to have the most amazing life with all the bad luck he has in this one. He is the only person I know who could win the lottery, only to lose the winning ticket because the house burned down with the ticket on the fridge."
Hunk nodded, "It's like he won the genetic lottery and lost the luck one. Or maybe when they passed out luck, he heard they were handing out ducks so passed on it."
The humans all laughed while the Alteans looked on in confusion.
"I am going to make his favorite foods for when he wakes up." Hunk started jotting ideas down and scrolling through his tablet, "Chili, right? I mean he came from Texas right? How spicy does Keith like his food, Shiro? What else does he like? I know he has a sweet tooth, wonder if I can find some more of that potato thing that tastes like chocolate? A chotato? Potolate?"
Shiro looked at the two Alteans and raised his eyebrows then darting his eyes toward the door. "Keith just likes food. He does like it spicy, but we may want to keep it simple and bland. From what we can tell, he has not had any real solid food since he left here, and his stomach may not be able to handle much."
"Oooh, good point, Shiro. Ok, then how about something like rice pudding? Gentle AND tasty. Plus there is that weird plant that kind of tastes like cinnamon vanilla." Hunk, Pidge, and Lance started talking over each other as they tried to come up with ideas for foods that would be gentle for Keith. As they continued to debate and plan, Shiro slipped out of the room to follow Coran and Allura toward the medical wing.
"So, what did you not want to tell the other three?" he queried as they walked.
Coran and Allura shared an enigmatic look. Coran looked at Shiro, "Can we talk in my office?"
Shiro blinked, "You have an office?"
Coran laughed, "Well of course."
Allura smiled and continued walking toward the medical wing. "I will check in on Keith."
"Do not do any work without backup." Coran warned her, wagging his finger. "I do not want. . ."
"I know, Coran! I promise," interrupted the princess with a look of exasperation and an impatient wave behind her head.
Coran watched her stride down the hall, an amused glint in his eye, left hand twirling his moustache. He turned down a side corridor, "Come along then Number 1, we have much to discuss!"
He led Shiro down just a short path before entering a room on the right. The Former Black Paladin just laughed at Coran's 'office.' It as much resembled what Shiro would think of as an office as a desert resembled a tropical rainforest. Coran moved some kind of machinery off of two chairs and gestured for Shiro to sit. He shook his head and looked around for a moment. Piles of electronics, parts, cloth, and unidentifiable boxes filled the room with no discernable pattern, but after knowing Coran for so long, the paladin knew the Altean could lay his hand on any item. It fit Coran perfectly – organized chaos. The Altean did not say anything, busying himself in the corner while Shiro gawked. In a few dobashes, Coran handed Shiro a steaming cup that reminded the paladin of a citrus tea on Earth. He smiled in appreciation and took an appreciative swallow.
Several more dobashes passed as the pair quietly sipped their beverages. With a sigh, Shiro looked at Coran.
Uncharacteristically somber, Coran turned the mug in his hands. "I had a long story to tell you about the dawning of space flight of many different worlds, of conquest, and of explorations and learning. I had anecdotes planned about my family to soften the blow, but I cannot this time. I have lived a very long time Shiro, longer than I would care to admit. I have seen and done things a soldier must do but what we must do with the boy weighs heavy." Coran tipped his mug as if the remaining liquid held different answers to the ones he had. The human sat quietly, letting Coran take his time explaining. "In order to reprogram the boy's brain, we have to correlate the sensations and experiences to the proper receptors. Even with the scans from before, the technology does not exist to reprogram the millions of receptors without taking phoebs and risking different kinds of injury from leaving him in a partial suspended animation state for that long. Especially because his Galra side is analogous to a human toddler. It would cause irreparable harm to his growth and development."
Coran continued to speak and Shiro could see his mouth moving, but the ringing in his ears kept the sound from penetrating. 'Correlate sensations to the proper receptors'? If Shiro understood correctly, "Wait. Stop," he interrupted Coran. "You mean, we have to essentially torture him in reverse?"
The Altean looked directly at Shiro without blinking, "Yes. And the pleasurable sensations as well. Lorva, the head of the Tyr team, thinks we should start with those. Because it would give a base and a way of giving relief for the painful parts."
Shiro opened his mouth and closed it twice before finding his voice. "OK. What kind of pleasurable sensations?"
"All kinds of course. From gentle touches all the way to mating rituals. I understand you humans are, hnnn, squeamish about discussing the pleasure two beings can find through mating, is that correct?"
"Ahhhhh," the paladin hedged, mind whirling, "Well. You see."
"Right. How your species has evolved as far as it has with such artificial constraints continues to baffle and amuse me. I did not want to involve the other children in this discussion as I feared they would have nothing to contribute since your species discourages youngsters from exploring that part of their physicality?"
"Ahhh, well, um," Shiro spluttered trying to find the words.
"I had understood you had already chosen a mate? Would you be able to give me insights. . . "
"Hold up!" the young human raised a hand to stop Coran's questions and to give his whirling mind a rest. "Wait. We need to back up a minute." Shiro took a breath and blew it out forcefully. "I understand what you are saying and yes, the other paladins should not be any part of this conversation AND there is one more added complication."
Coran waved a hand, "Go on."
"Well, more like several complications. First, after his Dad died in the fire, Keith did not have much experience if any with positive touch. You have seen how he shies away from even shaking hands. It took me months before he would accept a side hug from me and months longer before he would sit next to me on a couch. Second, he has never shown any inclinations toward, um, sexual interactions with others. Third, who would you have, um, participate in such an activity with him? And. . ." Shiro just trailed off as his mind whirled.
Coran stood, collected Shiro's mug, and returned with his drink replenished and steaming hot. He let the paladin sit in silence while he absorbed the impact of Coran's words.
"You have to also understand, Number One, that what we are proposing goes against everything most species in the known universe believe." Coran began softly. "What the Galra have done to Number Four constitutes one of the worst crimes because they have warped a child's development. The reason you have never known him to act in a sexual manner is that his Galra side had not reached that stage of development. The human half, physically, lags behind you, Lance, and Hunk in terms of maturity. We postulate, before this interference, he would have matured faster than a galra of a similar age because of the human portion of his DNA, but obviously lags significantly behind pure humans. However, if we do not address this now, it may leave him permanently damaged physically or mentally. As to the question of who, there has been much debate. We do know that Allura will need to be present to help with the quintessence end of treatment. There are other species that can manipulate quintessence, but she has already worked with Number Four and to train someone else would lead to unnecessary delay. What we need right now, is an overview of human mating practices, at least as far as you can tell me. If you are like most species, there is a spectrum, and the assumption that the majority of the population fits within natures parameters for propagating the species."
Shiro took a breath and mentally shook himself, setting aside his natural inclination to not speak about sex except for the lectures he gave to cadets for education purposes. It took nearly a dobash before he found his voice and replied, "Yes, humans have a spectrum and yes the large majority of the population identifies themselves as, to reuse your phrase, 'fits withing the nature's parameters for propagating the species.' Humans call the time when the body starts to prepare for reproduction as puberty and it starts around age . . . . "
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
Keith retreated back to his safe space, trying to puzzle out what happened. As he continued to gather bits and pieces of memories and knowledge, more appeared almost as if attracted to each other like iron to a magnet. On one of his forays, he had seen one of the bands of light connecting him to the physical body move. He avoided those bands because every time he brushed against one, it threw him into a state of only sensation, and he would often lose bits and pieces he had so painstakingly collected. When it stopped moving, the band sounded different and the color changed. It went from an angry purple color streaked with black to a deep red. When he approached, it did not trap him in sensation.
He watched from his hiding place until he saw the blue energy working on a large group of purple threads tangled together in a gordian knot. Slowly the knot loosened until he could see the individual strands. The blue energy withdrew, leaving the knot loosened but still present.
Curious, Keith circled around it. Cautiously he touched one of the threads only to lose time as he became awash in pain. When it stopped, he fled back to his hiding place to rest and think.
The next time the blue energy appeared, it came back to the same knot. He watched as it finally fell to the careful manipulations of the blue. Each of the strands changed to that deep red color and moved to flow without hinderance. Once the blue left, Keith emerged to examine the area for a long time, pondering the significance. Hesitantly, he reached out to the newly moved line. Memories slammed into him as he touched the thread. When the flow of thoughts ceased, Keith found himself standing in strange clothing, his, his armor. Yes, his armor. White with red accents, gloves, and a helmet. He did not know what the armor signified but he knew it for protection.
Looking around, Keith found a small purple line of energy that felt wrong. With the armor protecting him and the strand, he gave the thread a small shove and quickly jumped back in case the contact sent him back to writhing in pain or, somewhat worse, ecstasy. Instead, he felt something shift slightly as the line's color lightened slightly from a deep purple.
Emboldened, Keith shoved the line harder. It moved and felt like nails on a chalk board: grating. Pondering, the paladin moved the thread in different directions. It took a long time and much experimentation, but when the line snapped into place, more memories and names flooded into Keith's conscious mind. Shiro. Lance. Pidge. Hunk. Allura. Coran. He just did not know the who or what to attach to the names.
Exhausted from his efforts, Keith retreated to his cave and let himself drift to recover and think.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
Allura stepped back from Keith's pod and automatically reached for the rejuvenating drink Coran had ready for her. The last movement as they had traveled to Tyr had gone swiftly. In terms of Keith's quintessence flows, the progress had cascaded as more quintessence moved into the correct channels, more naturally reverted to the proper places. Coran likened it to a river returning to a natural course after removing obstacles. She could also see where Keith had worked on some of the places where the most difficult knots had formed. His efforts mimicked a bulldozer approach but accomplished the same end result.
The other paladins had taken to coming in and talking to Keith between the princess' sessions with him. Coran had explained that Keith could perceive the others but did not know how much perceptions translated into understanding. Hunk reasoned he always felt better when someone visited and did not want Keith to feel lonely or forgotten.
It had lightened the atmosphere of the castle enormously as the paladins joked and visited with Keith. They all acted as guinea pigs for Hunk's culinary efforts to find foods both tasty and gentle for their teammate when he finally emerged from stasis. Hunk complained he did not like seeing how skinny the Black Paladin had grown. He needed fattening up and the Yellow Paladin would make sure that happened. Pidge and Coran worked on better tracking devices to prevent something like this from ever happening again. The problem always lay in distance and interference. Even the lions had limits on detecting their bonded. Knowing the direction did not help in the vast emptiness of space.
"Did you have a chance to talk to Shiro about human mating rituals?" Allura inquired after a few moments.
Coran twirled his moustache and looked at the ceiling. "I did, although he did not give me many specifics. Humans are so strange in their reluctance to discuss, what word did Number 1 use? Sex and sexuality. Which also can mean the expression of chromosomes which differs from gender. Trying to direct the conversation was like herding a group of Ragmaks. He never quite gave a straight answer."
Allura hid a small smile, "Did you ask a straight question?"
Coran opened his mouth then laughed. "As straight as a snowball rolling down a hill! Which brought up another strange human quirk – they use so many euphemisms and odd expressions or words with multiple meanings, it made the conversations even harder to follow. For example, Number One used the word 'gay' to describe himself and the world homosexual. He explained it meant males who found other males sexually attractive and desirable as mates. Number Four had not expressed any preferences to Number One, but he could be straight or gay or bi- or any number of other permutations. Humans certainly have a strong need to micro categorize themselves. Then he started rambling about the spectrum of sexuality but did not make much sense. After a while, I took pity and indicted I understood what he meant, and he ran off faster than a Balock chasing after a cloud."
"Perhaps the best way is to ask Keith," Allura mused. "I have reached the end of what I should do with his quintessence channels. The rest will naturally flow back to where they belong. I know the physical pathways still need repair, but we need the Tyr for that. Blue has indicated Black grows more anxious to reconnect with his Paladin and Red also continues to reach out. I am not sure what Blue is trying to relay, but the best I can interpret is the connections fluctuate in and out." She shook her head, "That is not it exactly, but as close as I can understand."
Coran twisted his moustache as he studied the readouts for the pod. "I think," he began slowly, "we should let him wake now, without the stimulus of the rest of the humans. Their relative youth will most likely overwhelm the boy, and you have worked intimately on the flows." Nodding to himself, Coran let the pod rotate backwards until Keith semi-reclined, supported by the interior of the pod without lying flat on his back in the same position the Galra had kept him. As the pod started to bring the paladin back to full consciousness, Coran dimmed the lights in the room, and raised a dampening field around them to keep Keith's senses from becoming overwhelmed. It took nearly a varga for Keith to fully revive. When the pod finally opened, the Alteans watched as the paladin took a shuddering breath. Coran kept his voice calm and quiet, the dampening field making it a whisper that carried over the distance to the pod. "Number Four. You are on the castle. The surface you lie on is the interior of the healing pod. You have no restraints. The blindfold is there to protect your eyes, but you can remove it if you wish, or Allura or myself can help you. She is standing on your right side about a meter from the pod. You are safe."
Allura swallowed hard as Keith did not move and just lay tense as if waiting for the next attack or blow. Coran had warned her of this possibility but understanding the words and seeing the reality changed everything.
"Number Four. Keith. You are on the castle. The surface you lie on is the interior of the healing pod. You have no restraints. The blindfold is there to protect your eyes, but you can remove it if you wish, or Allura or myself can help you. She is standing on your right side about a meter from the pod. You are safe." Coran carefully repeated himself, addressing Keith by name for the first time Allura had ever known. She deliberately took a breath in, counting to seven before slowly releasing it. She would cry later. Now, this moment, the young paladin needed her strong and empathetic.
"Keith. You are on the castle. The surface you lie on. . ." Coran began a third repetition, carefully watching both the young man trying to absorb and understand and the monitors. Number Four's. . Keith's heartrate and breathing had climbed, and the Altean noticed a jump in stress hormones in his system. He had expected this and realized he had forgotten to prep Allura. He could see the tears in her eyes and the tremble in her hands as she wiped them away from her face. Then he saw the look of determination cross her face as she closed her eyes and calmed herself. Nodding, he continued his recitation for the fourth time proud of how she focused to present serenity. "You are safe."
"We are here Keith, you are safe." Allura felt proud of how steady her voice sounded. As she spoke, Keith's head twitched slightly toward her location, but he did not move any further. Allura exchanged glances with Coran and then stepped slightly closer. "I am standing about a half a meter from the healing pod. You are safe Keith. The blindfold is to protect your eyes from over stimulation and you can remove it. You are on the castle. Coran is by the monitoring station." She watched as the long finger of his right hand twitched upward then stilled. "We are here Keith, you are safe." She moved one step closer to the pod at Coran's hand gesture. "I took one more step closer to your right side. You are in a healing pod. The blindfold is only to protect your eyes and is easily removed."
Coran held up a hand and Allura paused, "Keith. You are safe. Take a breath with me, slowly. In, two, three, four, five. Now pause. Two, three, four, five, six. Exhale. Two, three, four, five, six, seven. Good. Again." Allura joined in, deliberately making noise as Coran counted aloud. On the fifth repetition, he nodded to the princess.
She took one more step to place herself right next to the pod. "You are safe Keith. We are here. I am right next to the pod. You are lying in the healing pod with a blindfold to protect your eyes." Allura watched very carefully as Keith tried to raise one hand, but only managed a small gesture before his hand fell heavily back down. "You are safe Keith. We are here. I can remove the blindfold if you want to see me. You do not have to talk, just raise a finger if you want me to move the blindfold. We have kept the lights dim." She paused and waited. It felt like a decaphob until Keith raised one trembling finger. "Ok. I am going to place a finger on your hand to start." She allowed her finger to touch the young man's hand with careful pressure to not set off a chain reaction. He shuddered under the touch but did not flinch. "I am going to touch your arm next, then your shoulder and then I will take off the blindfold with my other hand." Keith's breath hitched and then steadied as she telegraphed her moves. With painful slowness, the princess finally reached for the blindfold, careful to keep one hand on Keith's shoulder. The edge released as she lifted the blindfold until she looked into a pair of brilliant purple eyes. The pupils dilated and contracted as they tried to focus for the first time in months. Keith blinked rapidly mouth opening in a silent moue. Patiently, Allura waited.
"Lu?" came the raspy, barely audible inquiry.
Allura smiled, "It's me. You are on the ship. You are safe. Coran is here. You are in a healing pod in the medical section. You have been here two movements." She did not move the hand on his shoulder, wanting some physical contact. For the last two movements Allura had spent so much time with Keith's quintessence, finally having that ability to touch settled something inside her. Absently, she pushed the feeling down to examine later. Right now, she had to focus on Keith.
The Princess watched at Keith's eyes continued to focus and unfocus. Rapid blinking and small movements of his chest as he took in deliberate steady, shallow breaths gave Allura the only physical signs Keith had woken. It made her heart contract. The Paladin, in the time she had known him, had always given off an aura of energy. Even when still, she always felt like he moved forward to the next task, the next challenge, the next item on a to-do list. Allura fought to keep her expression serene and filled with positive emotion. "Can you understand me, Keith? You are in the castle. You are safe. I am here and Coran is in the room. The surface under you is one of the healing pods. It is my hand on your shoulder."
The Princess felt Keith's shoulder twitch under her hand and saw as he opened his mouth to perhaps try to say something. A fleeting expression crossed his face as his mouth closed again. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard before opening them to finally focus on Allura's face. "Keith, can you blink deliberately once if you can understand my words?" She waited, holding her breath, until she saw him close both eyes and then open them again. "Are you having trouble speaking?" Once again, Keith purposefully blinked before starting directly at Allura. "Ok, then a guessing game with yes/no questions." The princess glanced back at Coran and then back to Keith. "Right. One blink for yes, two for no?" One blink.
"Does your throat hurt?" Two blinks.
"We know you must be hungry and thirsty, so is your throat dry." Two blinks followed by two more.
"Disoriented?" One blink.
"Can you feel my hand on your shoulder?" This time Keith paused before slowly blinking once, and then twice more. Allura sent a puzzled look toward Coran. He started muttering to himself scrolling through screens rapidly fingers flying over inputs.
"Keith, can you feel Allura's hand, but in the wrong place? To be specific, you feel it but not on your shoulder?"
A longer pause followed before Keith blinked once.
Allura let out a long breath. She had hoped once most of Keith's quintessence had returned to its proper places, some of the confusion with his senses would abate. Lorva had warned them this could happen. The medical teams had planned for the worst-case scenario and sensations in the wrong place headed the list of 'worst.' "Ok. Not unexpected. Ok. We can work with this. We should start with nutrition. You need energy to mend and repair. So, we should start with that. Coran has worked preparing various nutrition drinks to start. If you can swallow. Well, I saw you swallow, so that bodes well."
"Allura." Coran tried to interrupt.
"The good news is you can communicate. So that will go a long way."
"Allura." The orange-haired man tried again.
"It will take time, but whatever we need to do in order to make sure you heal," she started as Coran's hand covered the one resting on Keith's shoulder without adding any weight.
"My dear. Too much. Too fast. Breathe."
Allura nodded, ducking her head to hide the tears that had sprung to her eyes. Coran placed his left hand on her back, rubbing small circles. "Shhhh. Breathe."
As Coran continued to make comforting noises, he noticed the feeling of quintessence on his right hand. He looked down to see a miniscule stream of red quintessence twining around Allura's hand. Even more interesting, he noticed an equally tiny flow reach out from Allura to interweave with the red one. Coran's eyes narrowed as he watched the dance and then moved his gaze to look at the paladin. The boy had closed his eyes. His brow had furrowed in concentration and the effort to offer comfort showed on his face. As Allura calmed, the two threads of quintessence faded. The princess let out one last sniffle and wiped her eyes and nose on the sleeve of her shirt.
Her gasp had Coran quickly reassuring her, "Number Four has only fallen asleep. I did not expect him to remain awake for long. Now, we need to make a plan. The humans will want to reassure themselves he has improved, but I am afraid they will not see his current state as improvement. In fact, I am sure number Three will quickly escalate and Number Two will panic. I propose then, when the boy starts to stir again, we help him clean up and have some nutrients. My best guess those two activities will exhaust him again, like a Kradunk after the annual mating frenzy." Coran took Allura's hand and gently pulled her a step back from the pod. With a push of a few buttons, he raised a small barrier that would keep the paladin from falling, without restraining him. He walked over to a cabinet and found a soft, heavy blanket and carefully draped it over the paladin activating the internal warmers. The paladin let out a soft sigh and his entire body relaxed further. Humming to himself, Coran gently herded Allura to the bed set up near Keith's pod and tucked her into it. It took her only a matter of moments to close her eyes and relax into slumber.
XXXX …. XXXX …. XXXX
Twirling his moustache, Coran crossed one ankle over the other and looked back and forth between the two young people. After a few dobashes, he smiled and turned toward the door. Lowering the lights even further, he exited and turned toward the kitchens to find what latest creation Number Two had managed to concoct.
Affecting a jaunty step and a whistle, he sent a message to the humans to join him in the kitchen. Although not a typical human mealtime, Coran had witnessed enough to know that food relaxed humans and offered succor when delivering news. Within a short time, the four humans and Coran relaxed in the kitchen with something that the yellow paladin called a chicken-sort-of casserole. The Altean did not know how Number Two managed to take various ingredients from the planets, using the food goo and coming up with such creations, but he felt grateful. Even though he gave the impression that food goo ranked as the best sustenance in the universe, it had only ever meant to supplement the Alteans for the caloric and nutritional needs. The Altean chefs, while not on the same imaginative plane as the human, they had turned the goo into tasty treats. He also had never revealed to the paladins, the dispensers should have the ability to change the texture and flavor, but Coran did not know how they worked. The young humans needed someone to appear to have all the knowledge they needed for keeping the castle running and the medical wing functioning, and he knew they could not know for some pheobs or decaphoebs how much time Coran spent frantically studying and trying to cram dozens of specialties of knowledge into working ability.
Mentally shaking his head and refocusing on the present, Coran left those problems for another time. They needed more personnel on the castle to run the ship, and as they continued to fight that need continued to grow. He had not brought it up with Allura, because she had enough on her plate, but he and Kolivan continued to have talks. The Blade leader had started using the castle more as a base of operations with Number Four missing. Not just to support search efforts, but to subtly bring in help for Coran. With the extended stay planned for the recovery the Altean planned to use the opportunity to do the major overhauls on the systems he had kept running with Gorak tape and wishful thinking. The leaders had invited many of the alliance planets to send some representatives for a planning meeting. Coran hoped to recruit support staff and fighters. The castle in the before time, not only held the lions, but two full support wings of fighters and ground equipment. It amused Coran to think the Paladins thought the only the lions and castle had any fire power. It showed their youth they thought an entire castle would only hold those when at war. They had not yet developed a more global awareness of war, and for that he felt thankful. Number One had more experience, and he had made references to the lack of other resources. Jumping from situation to situation had kept him from exploring it with more than a passing thought.
Coran laughed at himself. He meant to focus on the here and now and ended up wandering in thought again. After this meal, he could take a rest. They would arrive at Tyr soon, and it would allow them to let someone else take the burden of alertness for a time. He waited until a natural lull in the conversation before gently clearing his throat. "I have an update."
The four humans all paused and turned eager gazes toward Coran. "We have deactivated the statis field because most of the quintessence flows correctly in Number Four. He did wake for a few dobashes before falling asleep. We determined in that time he understood and communicated with us. Currently, he struggles to speak, but can answer yes and no questions. We are keeping the room dark, with a sound dampener on while we ascertain how sensitive his system has become. Obviously, he needs calories and rest. Once the healers on Tyr can do an analysis, we will know more about what treatment for hnnn, reprogramming Number Four will take." Coran held up a hand as he saw all four humans take a breath to barrage him with questions, "Now before you all start sounding like the beach during a Burgan migration, I do not have any other answers at this time. Both Allura and Keith are sleeping. I expect both to sleep for some time. You all want to see Number Four in person, but at this time, until we can evaluate his status, I would ask you to wait. We do not want to overwhelm Number Four and set off a cascading reaction."
Lance practically vibrated with the need to speak and blurted as soon as Coran let out a tiny pause. "So, this is a good thing, right? I mean, he is stable and can come out of statis, so that means good news, right? And if he understood and responded. Plus he is still the Black Paladin, right? Can the lions help?"
Pidge's words tumbled out right on top of Lance, "What about the other lions? I mean he has connection to three of them, not just Black? I mean he piloted Red and lived next to Blue. So can all the lions help? What about us? You talked about reprogramming, how does that work, and what can we do?"
Coran leaned back in his chair and waited for the other two humans to chime in. They did not disappoint as Hunk started asking about nutrition and Shiro tried to ask more about Keith's mental conditions. Eventually, the four started talking on top of one another and throwing out ideas and then dismissing them just as quickly. After nearly 20 dobashes, the paladins finally wound down and looked to Coran for answers. "I will let you know as soon as we have more information. For now, I am going to take a well-deserved break and will return to the medical ward when the computer alerts me to Keith's wakening. For now, we will use a high caloric drink to start his weight gain, but I imagine it will be very small amounts. The only good news on that front, it looks like they kept Keith fed in some fashion, so although he has lost muscle mass, we do not have to worry about the effects of food deprivations. This is only the very beginning of a long process but having Number Four out of the pod is a significant first step."
Coran stood and stretched, "Number Two, as always, thank you for the delicious meal." The Altean quickly left the room before the humans cold inundate him with the need for more information. With a hop-skip he turned toward his quarters for some well-deserved rest and refreshing.
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Keith drifted up slowly into awareness. He needed to know if the team had rescued him or if he had hallucinated again. A heavy, soft weight covered him from neck to below his toes and emanated warmth. Since his captors had never allowed him so much as a single bandage or scrap of cloth, that alone confirmed rescue, unless he had managed to create the greatest fantasy ever and escape into his mind. Or perhaps they had finally erred, and this awakening occurred in heaven. His eyes felt too heavy to open. Instead, he focused on what he could hear: the small hum of background machines, the sound of someone's careful inhalations and exhalations, and the sound of something brushing against a surface.
As he tried to open his eyes again a quiet voice emerged. "Take your time, m'boy. You are in the medical bay in the Castle. You are lying with a blanket in an open pod. You have been in a partially suspended state for almost two phoebs. You are safe."
The paladin heard the words and understood most of them. They faded in and out like a radio station at the edge of its territory. He understood castle and safe. It let him relax again and drift for a few minutes. When Keith became aware again, the room had not grown any brighter, but the noises had increased in volume slightly. Two voices murmured quietly at the edge of his hearing. It still sounded like an old radio station losing signal. Keith struggled to put identifications to the people. He knew them but if felt like the file cabinets of his mind had overturned and someone just stuffed the information into random places. Allura and. . . Coran. He had names for the people. He could hear them talking to him and switched his attention to decoding the sounds from their voices to the meanings stored in his head. It took a small amount of time until the words he heard became consistent in their meaning. Keith understood he lay in the medical wing of the ship, on a pod and they had treated him for some time. He had no reference to how long or short of a time.
His eyes felt sticky or glued together and the blanket had enough weight to make moving difficult. The weight felt good, nearly too good, so his did not attempt to move, but instead let the pleasurable feelings wash over him. His eyes started to open, but something kept his eyelashes tangled. A wet, warm cloth passed over his eyes and then his face. Oh God! It does not hurt. No cleansing agent that feels like acid on my body. No water so cold it makes my muscles cramp.
Keith nearly cried at the gentle caring represented in the touch. It took only a few moments, but it cemented he did not dream. He had not retreated to his head. The team really had rescued him.
His eyes opened to a pair of blue eyes looking into his.
"Better?" Allura inquired with a gentle smile at him.
Keith tried to speak, but only a whisper of a sound emerged. "Be. . ." he knew the words, but they seemed stuck in his brain as if missing a connection between the knowledge and the application.
"Don't try to talk. We know one of the last pieces of damage that occurred happened in the speaking center of your brain. I am glad to know you can vocalize, but it will take some repair to fix things."
Allura kept speaking, and Keith concentrated on her face and voice. Watching her mouth move and concentrating, he picked up about half of the words. It took some effort, but he parsed most of the meaning together. Something had broken but they would fix it. Later. Ok. He could deal with that. Oh, she wanted a response if he understood. Mostly? He did not have a sign for mostly, so gave a yes response. That garnered a smile and more words. Food and a bath. Yes, he wanted both.
More words followed and he understood they would be helping him drink something. Not stuffing a tube down his throat and pumping sustenance in as fast as they could. Keith blinked in agreement. It felt like only a moment later the pod changed shape until resembled an old earth recliner. They left the blanket draped over his lap, although his chest remained bare. The paladin only noticed the absence in passing as the comforting weight of the blanket moved. Between foster care, the garrison, and captivity, Keith had no sense of human modesty left.
Allura carefully brought a container with a straw near his mouth and then waited until he remembered how to open and close around it. Keith carefully sipped a small mount and then swallowed. It did not have a strong taste nor one he could readily identify. It did not take long before his stomach could hold no more, and even as the thought crossed his mind, Allura removed the container.
The paladin let his eyes close to shut out the inconsistent message he received from his eyes. With Allura standing close, the image only wavered slightly, but as she moved, she lurched like an old-fashioned zombie from Earth. He caught more words and pieced together that his brain would adapt again, but it would take time and some reprogramming from somewhere.
Keith's eyes startled open as he felt a light touch on his arm. Coran had come to stand near him. He had not heard nor felt him approach like he had with Allura. Blinking rapidly, he realized Coran wanted to bring him to a standing position and see how much of his own weight he could support. The pod morphed again like the automatic chairs on earth that helped older adults stand.
His legs tried to buckle as Keith put the first weight on them since. . . since when? Keith had no idea. Coran supported his weight while the young man's legs tried to remember how to work. It felt strange. Babies must feel the same way.
Keith focused solely on standing. It did not take long before his breaths started coming harder and his legs began to shake. He registered comforting sounds coming from Coran but could not spare the attention to translate the words into meanings. As his legs stopped supporting him, Coran simply scooped him up and carried him across the room to the bathing room. Eyes closed, he felt himself lowered into the warm water and sighed as the water worked to support his weight. Exhaustion pulled at him and he drifted letting Coran take care of everything else.
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