CHAPTER TEN
I watched him drag the Engineer out of the dungeons and into a room adjacent. He gave me a smile before disappearing, locking the door behind him. That was it. He brought me down here only to leave me wondering with more questions.
What was I going to do, now?
Had I always been so dependent of him? It was as if life stopped whenever he was away. I kept promising myself that I was going to be stronger, but each day was just another broken promise. Why did I even bother?
I forced my feet down the hall and up the stairs, towards the opposite direction of my room. As I stepped out of the stronghold, I instinctively held my breath, but quickly let it go. How was this air any different from the air inside? It wasn't as if there were any filters around.
Slowly, I put one foot in front of the other. It was actually the perfect temperature with a soft breeze ruffling my hair. I saw where David had been working on the field. The dirt was darker than the rest. He did an immaculate job as expected.
The further I got, the more alien everything became. I couldn't recognise any of the greeneries. The trees grew high into the sky, casting dark shadows everywhere. The flowers looked beautiful and perfectly harmless, but I knew better than to approach them. The most beautiful of things were the most dangerous. They reeled you in and capture you, compelling you to stay with them forever. You'd die happy in its grasp.
As I weaved back to the stronghold, I noticed that there were small patches of black on the ground that I hadn't noticed before. They were reminiscent of the black parasites. I made a wide berth around them. Had the parasites settled and thrived in the ground after they were released?
If that was the case, were the crops going to be safe to eat? W as I doomed to die here no matter what?
With a sigh, I walked down the aisle of bodies. Each one had a face frozen in horror. What were they thinking when we came down? I had been so eager to be rid of them. After what one of their kind had done to us, I wanted them all gone, but now that I was living among their legacy, I could feel another tinge of regret hit me. These were still beings that could think and feel. They had plans and ideas. They created and expanded. Now, they couldn't do any of that. Other than the several dozen who were imprisoned in the dungeons, they were all gone.
I reached out, tempted to feel if they were as stiff and hard as they looked or if their flesh was as soft as mine.
Just as my fingers were about to touch them, David called out to me.
I immediately retracted my hand and looked guiltily at him. He was standing on the balcony of his laboratory. Although rather far away, I could still see the glare on his face.
He wasn't happy.
I slowly made my way towards him until I was just a step away from beneath where he was perched upon. Close up, he looked angrier than I had anticipated – more angry than I ever thought was possible for a synthetic. I knew without a doubt that the ire was real. I had experienced it several times first hand. I just didn't understand how it was possible.
"Do not wander off. It's not safe for you out there, right now," he stated in a levelled tone. "If you want to explore, I will accompany you."
I looked away. 'I'll be fine. You don't have to do that. I won't wander…" Like a scolded child, I went back into my room. There I stayed for days, pouting. My only travels consisted of going to the bathroom. Otherwise, David brought me everything. He stayed with me at night, every night, and brought me the only excitement I could get in the small quarters. He could tell that I was still upset with the other day and it was beginning to bother him.
"What do you want me to do or say, Cassandra?" he murmured into my shoulder. His arms were wrapped around my waist and his chest pressed against my back.
"I don't' know what you mean," I huffed. Of course, I was just throwing one of my tantrums, again. It was known to happen every once in a while. When it does, everyone knew about it.
He sighed. "I know you better than that. I've upset you. How can I make it better?"
It wasn't really his fault. Perhaps he had merely been worried about me, but I hated being controlled by him like this. It felt as if my life wasn't my own anymore. I had become nothing more than another doll he could play with. I didn't want to live like that.
"Cassandra…" He left a trail of butterfly kisses from my neck down to my shoulder.
I closed my eyes, hoping that I could be stronger. How could my heart win every time? Did I have no will power against it?
"I cannot give you the love that you desire," he told me. 'If I could, I would, but it simply isn't possible for me. All I can do is try my best to keep you safe so that I will never have to spent a day without you. Is that not enough? I do not know how else to show my fealty to you, my Cassandra."
Tears began to fill my eyes. I never knew that was how he felt. Why hadn't he told me? Why did he have to go through it all in secrecy? Or was this just another ploy to manipulate me? How could I even tell, anymore?
"Perhaps… Beyond everything, you were correct. It was me. I lacked trust. I have thought through many different outcomes of my own future. The main distinction is being with you or without you," he continued. "I fear that I will never truly be good enough for you. I am not of blood and flesh. I cannot give you a child."
"That doesn't matter, David," I told him. I turned so that I can look blurrily into his eyes. "I don't think I can even take care of a child, anyway. Id' rather you be open with me. Stop leaving me in the dark!"
He sighed. "I apologise. I will do better in the future." He wiped away the tears with one long finger.
I blinked, watching as he reached over and retrieved a small jar. The liquid was pitch black and I immediately knew what it was. I knew that it was finally my time to join the rest. I had just hoped that I could've changed his mind, but why after that confession? Did he get my hopes up just to bring it crashing back down?
"This is my last secret. This is what my purpose is winding down to." He sat us up, allowing me to hold the jar. "Your father didn't only want immortality for himself. He also wanted it for you."
"What?" My mind was reeling. Me? "Why me? Why not Meredith? Out of the two of us, she is clearly the more qualified one. She can accomplish so much, while I'll just sulk and moan. Play some music and throw a tantrum!"
"Have you thought that perhaps those are the very qualities that make you his favourite? He lacked everything that you excel in. He didn't need a carbon copy of him, not when he was so confident that he would live on forever. He needed someone who was the opposite – someone well-rounded in the arts."
The words were going in one ear and slipping out the other. After living with the notion that father had never seen me as worthy of anything… Why hadn't he just told me? I didn't care about immortality. I'd rather have died, knowing that he loved me.
I looked down at the dark liquid sitting innocently in my hands. "And this…"
"That is going to give you what I couldn't give him."
"How?" I asked. "How do you know it will work?"
"I've tested it many times. Of course, there was a high rate of failure at first, but I've adjusted it enough to serve my purpose. This will essentially alter your metabolism. Your cells will die as per normal, but the rate of regeneration will be greater than the rate of degeneration. It will make you impervious to time and most injuries, but thus far, it will not make you invincible. I believe that you will want an option open for you in the future." He took the jar away from my shaking hands. 'It is up to you whether you wish to take it or not. I will not force it upon you, no matter how my programming deems it necessary."
So the decision rested on my shoulders. He had laid it all out in front of me. I needed to choose whether I wanted to live on forever or die as all humans do, probably soon as it was. Was I willing to shed my humanity for him? Wasn't all this ironic? He kept me around for my humanity. Now, he was presenting me the option of ridding it. Would he still want me after?
"You said I'd be able to die later on if I choose to?" I needed to make sure that that was true. If everything came crumbling around me – more than it actually had – and if he left me, I needed to know that I could still opt out.
"Yes," he confirmed. "I will help you with the task myself if that is what you wish."
I took the jar back into my hands. 'And I'll have more freedom once I take it?"
"Yes. Other forms of the parasite will no longer affect you. You may roam the land as you choose," he told me.
Swallowing hard, I raised the glass to my lips. With a deep breath, I tipped it in with my eyes closed.
The liquid went down smoothly, but there was a strange bitter aftertaste that made me gage. "That was disgusting!" I exclaimed.
"There was nothing I could do about it. HE gave me an apologetic look. "It will be absorbed fastest in water."
Now that it was over, I wondered why it had taken me so long to decide. It had been quick and painless.
I went on with life as normally as I could on this foreign planet and the transformation didn't hit me until several days later and when it hit me, it hit me hard. The pain crawled up from my stomach and clawed at my throat. It felt as if my head was going to split open. There was a constant ringing in my ears that seemed to vibrate in my skull. My heart raced, fluttering as if it wanted to escape this chaotic concoction that I had introduced into my body.
I was vaguely aware of David scooping me into his arms from the floors of the library. Even the gentlest touch made my skin burn as if it was on fire. It was too much. I'd rather burn out and die. If this was immortality, I didn't want it!
…
David found her writhing in the library. He had been anticipating this since she drank his elixir. When it happened to the young Engineer, he was only filled with pride at his progress. For her, it was a little more difficult to ignore. He made her as comfortable as he could, but everything caused her pain. HE could feel her burning up and wrapped her with his body. The cold, almost freezing temperature he emitted calmed her slightly, but he knew that the fever would have to run its course.
He had been monitoring her cellular activity. It had been taking the parasite well. Instead of instantly taking over, it adapted and compromised. It slowly created an environment that it could live in. The parasite maintained its home. Unfortunately, her own body was fighting the changes. Her white blood cells were futile against the parasites that easily consumed them and took on its character tics, but it didn't stop her immune system from trying. Soon, the parasites were unrecognisable to her internal defences, but the transition hadn't gone as smoothly and painlessly as he had anticipated.
Other than increasing cellular regeneration, there were also other changes that he could not eliminate. If only he had more time to slowly isolate everything… But he couldn't risk Cassandra wandering just a little too far and getting a little too curious. On this planet, she was liable to die at any moment. He'd rather she be slightly altered than not there at all.
He closed his eyes, wondering how long this was going to take. Already, it had been longer than the Engineers he had experimented on. He wasn't surprised. Her body was much weaker than theirs. The only problem was, he was beginning to second guess himself. He had more than one variable to deal with. No matter how confident he sounded for her, he wasn't positive that this would work – that she would come out of this alive or whole. There would always be the risk of the parasite reacting different to her.
Suddenly, her back arched and she let out a piercing scream. "No more! No more!" she cried, shaking her head. When she opened her eyes to look at him, he could see the webs of black slowly taking over.
"Just a little longer." He kissed her forehead.
She shook her head, again. "I can't! It hurts so much. Please, I can't take it anymore!" Another gasp of pain filled her lungs. Her grip on him could've broken bones.
He pried her hands off him. He thought of all the other times he had helped her through times of turmoil. Shifting them until she was tucked between his legs, he did what he knew to pleasure her – to make her mind off the agony that was essentially his doing.
And slowly, the pained screams were mixed with moans of desire. He wondered what the threshold was. Could he overload her senses with enough pleasure to override the pain? Could he condition to love the pain as much as the pleasure? Was that possible?
He happily experimented his scientific question. Unlike any other male specimen, he would not tire. HE went on until she was passed out and continued his administration whenever she showed any signs of discomfort. Any time he had alone was spent on the farm. He worked endlessly, until she opened her eyes and looked at him clearly for the first time in a week. The black had receded from her eye whites, but her grey orbs were not pitch black. It absorbed light and reflected none in return. The life he had once seen in them were gone and he wondered how much of her was actually left.
"Cassandra." He leaned in, hoping to catch a glimpse of recognition in her dead eyes.
She reached up towards him. Her fingers brushed his nose and lips. "David…" she breathed. "You look different."
He tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
She grazed his cheek with her nails. "I can see so much more of you. I can see your… imperfections."
He froze. That was not something he heard often. Only Peter Weyland had ever said anything similar to him.
"There's a small bump here." She continued to scrutinise him until her eyes fell closed again and she was silent.
"Cassandra?" Had she fallen asleep? No, he could tell by her heart beat and breathing that she was still awake.
A frown marred her face. 'I think there's something wrong with me," she whispered. "If eel so lonely. My head… My head is missing something. It's so lonely in there. Why? I've never felt like this before."
He brushed his lips against hers and she quickly pressed him closer as if she was trying to somehow absorb him. Her lips were everywhere, as were her hands. It wasn't long before they were both nude and he was fully sheathed inside her, again.
"It's not working!" she cried, wrapping her legs around him. "It doesn't feel right. I feel so empty…"
He slid back out when he noticed that she was gaining no pleasure from their interaction. He as truly starting to hate the after-effects. "What can I do to assist you?" He was growing irritated with the situation.
"I don't know!" The tears fell and she curled into a ball, turning away from him.
He left out an audible sigh. "Give me your arm, I will see if I can find anything wrong." When he pierced her arm with the needle, he first noticed how much more difficult it was, but when it went through, he immediately reeled back. The needle had completely dissolved and the droplet of blood that had fallen on the cover had bore a hole into the fabric. It didn't, however, manage to go all the way through the mattress.
"Fascinating…" He hadn't expected this and although it made his work harder, he was actually quite pleased with this. The only problem would be if she ever bled on him. Otherwise, the new defense mechanism was extremely useful. It was also helpful to note that all her other body fluids were still normal – at least, her tears, saliva, and vaginal fluids were.
"What is it?" she asked, wondering why he had gone silent.
"Nothing to concern yourself over. Allow me to do a full check up and I shall inform you of everything you must know."
He looked forward to truly seeing all the changes to her human body. How much of it was left?
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Thank you Nirvana14, time-twilight, Lady Jensen, Zerousy, Dreamer4life16, SabakuNoGaara426, and Love Fiction 2017 for reviewing!
Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.
Please, leave a review if you've enjoyed this!