"…hmm…I'd say about two-thousand credits."
Yang shook his head and stretched his fingers, impatiently. "You have the files, Morgan. You know what's going to happen if Deirdre is continued to be controlled by Meskha. Why do you need money to do what is best for all of us?"
Morgan shrugged. "Because I don't believe you, Yang. Plain and simple."
Yang bit his inner lip angrily. He and Morgan hadn't always been the best of friends. Ninety years ago, they had a rather large land dispute which almost led into war. Had it not been for intervention of the council, the entire hierarchy of Planet might've looked completely different. This, however, wasn't the time to be arguing with an old foe.
"Nwabudike, Zakharov is alive. His faction is alive. Without your help, Zakharov and his people might die."
Morgan scoffed. "Do I care? Zakharov treated me like a child. Whenever I bought research from him, he had an air about him that made me feel like, 'Oh, I'm the stupid CEO of Morgan Industries, buying information from the omniscient Prokhor Zakharov.' I'm not entirely heartless, Sheng-ji…I do feel for his people. But I'm not willing to risk putting both my armor and my bases at risk. Now I must go. Goodbye, Yang."
Yang closed the connection on his monitor and set it back down onto his desk. Shila was outside the control center of the Bine, looking out at the ocean. Yang walked out and stood next to her, leaning against the railing. Shila looked at him with sad eyes.
"I take it Nwabudike is a no, too?"
Yang clenched the guardrail, irritated. "No Morgan. It's not in Miriam's beliefs, Lal doesn't believe the conflict is warranted, and Santiago is too busy fortifying her own borders. I'll tell you, Shila, in times of crisis we faction leaders rarely stand together.
Shila looked down at the sea. "We'll be at the site within the hour. With luck, we'll be overestimating their advance."
Yang shook his head. "She'll be there…and she's bringing Deirdre. I've got my entire fleet behind the Bine, but I don't know if it'll be enough. We'll just have to hope."
She sat down against the guardrail. "Sheng-ji…I don't know what to do."
He looked down at her. "Shila?"
Tears began to stream down her eyes. "I was created by Zakharov. Zakharov is my builder…but he is also my love. Without him, I am an empty program, an empty shell. What am I supposed to do?"
Yang sighed. "Shila, I wish I knew what to-"
The ship then abruptly slowed down, enough for both Yang and Shila to be knocked back a few feet. Yang grabbed the girl and sped into the control room. "What happened??" he yelled to one of the Cadets.
"Chairman, an Isle of the Deep just surfaced from beneath us! It's deliberately slowing us down!"
Yang turned the nearest monitor and adjusted its viewscreen. Behind the ship, a giant mass of Planet's creatures had grabbed a hold of the engines of the Bine. The creatures made no intent to attack the ship, however.
"Fire at it, cadet!"
Shila had a thought. "No! Don't fire! Wait!"
She ran out of the door of the control room and along the guard rails, towards the aft section of the ship. The view was the same as she saw on the viewscreen, only much bigger. The giant mass of worms didn't seem to notice her at first, seemingly keeping all their attentions on slowing down the Bine. Shila knew that Yang saw her on the monitor…she heard his voice on the speakers to prove it.
"Shila, get back in here! Isle's of the deep are dangerous!"
She ignored it and moved closer to the edge. One of creatures…eyes?...seemed to notice her and slowly crept up towards her. Shila began to panic. Hopefully this isn't a stupid thing to do…It was then that she noticed a growing heaviness in her eyes. She sat down, still staring at the creature, then fell back into a deep sleep…
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confusion.
"What? What is this? Where am I?"
confusion.
"I don't understand. Who are you?"
difficult concept, we. little time, we. confusion.
"What's confusing?"
born no planet. born no earth. born no all. you?
"I guess you could say I was made by Prokhor…I am with Prokhor. Does that make me Planet or Earth?"
little time we. shila. earthprokhor, danger.
"You know what happened to Prokhor? Where is he??"
earthdeirdre.
"…oh no…"
no fear. earthprokhor no harm. is not for why contact shila.
"Then why did you contact me?"
planetmeskha.
"What about her?"
planetmeskha hold codes, say earthprokhor. earthmind, planet no can enter. codes in earthmind.
"So how does this involve me?"
no see? earthdeirdre pop! earthdeirdre pop, destroy earthprokhor.
"The mind control, correct."
earthdeirdre pop, destroy earthzakharov. planetmeskha pop, release codes. discontinuity earthdeirdre pop.
"Planet Meskha 'pop'…"
understand.
"If we use the mind control on Meskha…we can get the codes?"
is true, shila.
"But it's not that simple. We don't know where Meskha is."
planet discover. no know, will know. planet speak with earthprokhor now.
"Wait! You can speak to Eart-…Prokhor?"
is true, shila.
"Is there any way to make a connection with me, too?"
is not. cannot support two in earthmind.
"Then Voice, please…just tell him 'I love you.'"
as shila wish. discontinuity.
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"…Shila!"
Shila rubbed her head and sat up. From her vantage point she could see that the Isle of the Deep was gone, as it had served its purpose of making an initial connection with the girl. She looked at Yang, who was standing beside her. She smiled.
"C'mon, we've got some planning to do."
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earthprokhor.
"…the pain…the pain, it's diminished a little. You don't know how grateful I am for you to be here right now, Voice."
pain?
"Deirdre's punishment sphere. It…sends painful jolts of electricity through my body over and over again. It was one of the methods developed back on earth to hold the truly evil of the…leaders, but now it's become common practice that the leader of an overthrown faction is thrown into this thing. It's actually quite painful. I haven't gotten used to it yet…but I'm living on the hope that Deirdre will kill me after she lets me watch the destruction of my last base. But enough about me. What brings you here, Voice?"
shila.
"Shila…Shila?? What about her? Where is she? Is she safe? Did you talk to her?"
safe. earthyang has. coming to help earthuniversity.
"…how? What can she and Yang do?"
planetmeskha. where?
"…um, I thought I heard Deirdre say something about the Milet. You might want to look there."
as wish, earthprokhor. one last thing, i love you.
"…huh?"
shila. say, "i love you".
"Ahh, thank you, Voice…if you talk to her, tell her I love her too…and to stay safe."
as wish, earthprokhor. discontinuity.
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The pain continued to surge through Zakharov's body as Deirdre entered the room. She seemed to be smiling wickedly as she stood before him.
"You know, if I didn't hate you so much, I would consider this inhumane, and kill you on the spot. However, I believe you deserve this for all the years you've been hiding from me…and believe me, when I find out who was harboring you, they'll be in the sphere for much longer."
Zakharov forced a smile through his pain. "You…have no idea…whatsoever?"
Deirdre shook her head. "No…and come to think of it, I don't really care. I mean, as long as I have you in my sphere, I am happy. I am eternally happy. Maybe I should keep you in my throne room…to watch day by day, watch you struggle and suffer against the bolts that enter your bones. It would be, what the Japanese called, Tantalus…eternal torture."
Zakharov struggled to maintain his smile. "That…was the Greeks…you ignorant tree-hugger."
She ignored the statement and walked to her monitor. "Patch me through to the Milet." A few seconds passed, and then an all-too-familiar face appeared on her monitor. "Meskha, my dear child. When will you be arriving at the drop site?"
Meskha shrugged. "About an hour. You as well, Deirdre?"
The Gaian nodded. "I'm bringing along a spectator." She turned the monitor so that Meskha could see Zakharov. "I think he'll enjoy today."
Meskha smiled, and her eyebrows lowered slightly. "Deirdre, might I have a word alone with him?"
Deirdre nodded and set the monitor on a small desk in front of the punishment sphere. She then exited the room, humming a little tune. Zakharov shook his head painfully, not saying a word. Meskha only smiled.
"Zakharov…Provost Zakharov. How low the mighty fallen."
"A special…place in hell…for you."
"Well, aren't we bitter? I'm not the one who attached you to a punishment sphere. I would've simply killed you on sight. Don't get angry at me."
"You she-demon….coward."
"Say all the mean words you want, Zakharov…it doesn't change the fact that in less then two hours, submersible bombs will be deployed to slowly destroy and flood your base. It will be a glorious moment. At that point, my generosity will shine through, and I will have Deidre destroy you and toss you overboard to join your people."
Zakharov shrugged. "...such a generous…lad."
Meskha yawned. "Oh well. I'm going to catch a nap…I'll see you in an hour or so, Zakharov!" she said, unnecessarily perky. She then shut off the connection, leaving the room devoid of sound, save for the sound of bolts that continually entered his body.
~
