Night and Day

He entered the room silently, not to bother the man who sat at his desk, absorbed by the book laid before him. So beautiful, he was so pleasing to him, in the light of day. The long, light brown hair, the wide shoulders, the strong muscular body. Perfection.

He frowned, remembering what he had been shown. Rodney was not progressing as he'd hoped he would. He hated what had to be done but it was for the better, for the strength of the community. He sat on the platform that stood near the door and called out.

"Rodney. Come here please."

Rodney raised his head as the soft yet firm voice reached him. His eyes locked unto The Lord. He pushed away the book he had been studying and walked to the platform.

"Yes, My Lord." Head bent, eyes focussed on his shoes, he spoke in the demure fashion he had been trained to adopt.

"Rodney, kneel."

"Yes, My Lord." He did as he was told, no questions, no complaints. If it was instructed, he would do it. He kneeled on the first step of the platform and felt a hand run through his hair. He didn't like long hair, it prevented him from seeing properly and decreased his productivity but The Lord liked it therefore he kept it long, eager to please. He hated training as well but his strong and limber body pleased the man so he did it assiduously.

"Would you tell me, dear boy, what you were doing last night?"

Fear entered his soul and froze him. The world stopped turning; his life was over. "I…I…didn't mean. It was…I'm sorry."

There was nothing he could say to make this better. He had been weak last night, had let his thoughts get away from him, had let the darkness come. He'd tried to remember what the voices and faces meant, had thought of home, forgetting for a moment that home was here, that he had no one but this man who gave him so much.

Rodney tried to always remember all that had been done for him here. Tried never to think of anything that had come to pass, but sometimes it would come back, creeping in the dark. A mission gone horribly wrong and the ensuing trip to the infirmary, a joke shared, a conversation held in whispers under the starry sky of some strange planet. All things he had done, things he had shared with people he thought he could trust. People he thought…people he thought accepted him as he accepted them.

"You wished to be away from me, Rodney. You cried for the others. You pleaded for those who left to come for you." The Lord took hold of his chin and raised his head. Blue eyes met brown ones. The disappointment Rodney saw in them made his heart ache and magnified his guilt.

"I love you so and this is how you repay me, by wishing for others who despise you, who mocked you, who left you behind. You break my heart, Rodney."

The words were a mere murmur; a hand stroked his hair, the other caressed his cheek. He closed his eyes, unwilling to see the hurt he had caused this man who was forgiving him once more.

"I'm sorry My Lord. I'm so sorry. I didn't want these thoughts. I can't stop them."

"I know and that is why we must try harder to make them vanish." The Lord gestured for the large man standing uncertainly near the door to approach.

"This is for your own good. I do this for you. It pains me, but I must. It is all for you darling, all for you. You know you are my lighted sky don't you and I do not mean to hurt you?"

"Yes My Lord, thank you My Lord." Strong arms pulled him upright and he was taken to the chamber. He was hooked to the mainframe as The Lord spoke with the man in charge of this section of the detainment complex.

"I want everything replaced."

"But…My Lord, we must be careful…we can't…not in one…"

"I want everything replaced! This has carried on long enough! I have no need for him in this state! I want everything replaced, now! Inform me when it is done."

Unable to deny The Lord's request, the man went against his better judgement. A saddened look upon his face, he activated the terminal phase of the detainee formatting program.

Rodney was left alone in the room. Images came and went before him, too fast to be properly processed. Images of what his life had been. He saw nothing but felt everything. The laughter, the scorn, the hatred, all that had been directed at him came back. All the pain he had ever felt, all the humiliation, the guilt, the shame of a lifetime filled him, possessed him. He felt the presence of all the people he had known, all the ones who had only used him, abused him for his skills. His memories were rearranged, replaced.

Hours later it was over. It went away and he was left alone, a sobbing mass of flesh that had lost the desire to live. He cried and cried until strong arms encircled him and a voice crooned to him, soothing him.

"Rodney, my beautiful, beautiful boy, I am sorry. It is for the best, for your own good. You understand why I can't let you think of this. At night, I cannot be with you. Here, I can be. I can hold you, love you and make it all better. I am here to make you forget. All of that is past. You are safe here, you are loved here and I will never let them hurt you again."

Rodney believed him, this man who loved him so, who wanted him, who would protect him. He regaled in the embrace and the loving words as another voice, deep inside him, screamed that it was all a lie, screamed in anger and disgust. It screamed so very loudly and yet, he couldn't hear it, could only hear the sweet nothings whispered in his ear. The Lord released him and stood. "Go back to work now."

He felt a finger stroke his cheek gently then he was alone again. Rodney longed to be held once more but pushed it away. Work, he had to work if he wanted The Lord to keep him, to cherish him as he did. He returned to his book and tried to understand what it wanted to teach him.

There was a time when he would've gone through the pages at top speed and retained all the information, but here the books were so complicated, all was perplexing. This world held wonders he had never seen before. Once, he had been the smartest of them all, but now…The Lord said it was not his fault, he was still as smart, that this world was much more evolved than his previous one. That is why he had to forget all about it, start over, clean slate. He smiled happily and resumed the contemplation of this strange theory. Gravitational force…It didn't make much sense to him at this point but he knew he would decipher its meaning eventually.

Miles away, in the woods that bordered the clearing where the Ring stood, a woman spoke with a black-haired man. She spoke of detainee number 73945.