The sun crested the distant horizon, just as it had done repetitively each morning for the last few billion cycles. The wind picked up through the canyons and valleys, snapping like a freshly cleaned linen sheet out to air. Several strains of rogue hair danced about his face as if meaning to chase after the wind. The figure ignored the fluttering locks and kept his gaze focused firmly on the raising sun.
This had become his ritual every morning.
He shuffled his feet just slightly and part of him imagined he had held the place for so long his plain sandals had worn away a place on the familiar rock ledge where he now stood. The same exact place he stood each and every morning at this time.
The sun finally broke free of the horizon's landscape and majestically floated skyward, free of its worldly bonds. The figure squinted silver-tinted eyes and stubbornly followed the burning orbs ascent, knowing his augmentation would protect him from damage.
As if on some signal, below him there came a buried roar of displaced air, as the monks fired the forges in the caverns up for the day's work ahead of them.
Casting his gaze downward despite himself, he saw the servants scurrying around the stone courtyards below on their morning business… just as they did every day of his stay there.
Several microts later, he sighed to himself.
The monastery had been a welcomed sanctuary, a respite from being hunted, but there were no answers to be found in this place.
He glanced down at the data crystal resting on his scarred palm, having forgotten for just a brief moment that he still held it. He now knew the recorded image track the holo device held by heart. He'd viewed it so many times in the spartan quarters he had been given, that all he was really required to do to review it was to close his eyes and it replayed in his mind's eye.
Regardless of that fact, he flicked the crystal's widest end with the tip of one finger; causing the synthetic gem to release it's secret.
The tiny hologram sparkled into existence just above his opened hand and the crystal. It showed just a few flickering microts of a young gray-skinned female inside what appeared to be a Peacekeeper Carrier officer's lounge.
And indeed, that is exactly what the short worded report that arrived with the crystal confirmed.
She was alive… and had been reunited with her companions.
He closed his fist and terminated the hologram's repeated loop of the girl. A soft whisper of a sandaled foot a few microts later told him that he was no longer alone on the outcrop overlooking the monastery.
His visitor was expected, the kindly old Lord Bishop who oversaw this sanctuary always joined him at that time of the morning.
"Peace and the Unity's good grace bless you this day, my friend," the old priest ritually greeted as he stepped up to his side.
"And to you, old man," the other responded in a near emotionless voice.
The priest barked a good-natured laugh at the reply. His visitor had always greeted him thusly, even though the cleric was far from being a Sebacean male. His species, as all the monks of this holy order were, derived from an aquatic strain of humanoid. With his thick rubber-like skin, brisling facial whiskers and tusks, along with his large flipper-like hands… he looked anything but like a Sebacean man. However in more obvious generic terms… he was extremely old.
"How does the new day find you?" the bishop asked pleasantly.
"The same as always," replied the man with a rare hint of listlessness.
The old priest tisked through his tusks and shuffled a little closer to the other. "For some… it takes time for their old life to fade into the past, allowing the peace they seek to find them. First they must come to terms with that old existence and lay it to rest in a fashion before they can began anew. You have only been here a tenth of a cycle, give yourself time."
"I've come to believe that there is no peace for someone such as I," the man said as he opened his hand again to gaze at the crystal. "I find that there are things that do not wish to be laid to rest."
The bishop nodded. "That may well be also. Sometimes there are those who lasting peace only comes to when they have finished with the tasks the Unity has set before them… perhaps this is true with you." He then casually tilted his heavy head in the direction of the image crystal. "Have you reached a decision on whether or not you will search for her?"
The man snapped his hand closed over the gem at the query and then turned slightly to regard his companion with mild interest.
"I told no one. How did you know?" he asked the bishop.
The older being chuckled pleasantly. "I was not always the old monk you see before you, my friend. In my younger cycles, I too wore the guise you wear now since you received that which you hold within your hand. I have worn that very same look on more than one occasion, the appearance when one person has another soul too near their heart." The priest leaned in closer and then added in a much lower conspiratorial tone, "Besides… not much goes on in a monastery that all the brothers or sisters do not know about. Messengers arriving with covert communications for guests give everyone something to talk about that's out of the ordinary."
"I see," said the man with a hint of a frown at the ease that his personal security had been breeched. He had paid good credits to the source for confidential information, least it leak out and the Syndicate learn where the girl was also. It was fortunate that none else in the temple knew the identity of the female shown in the holo.
The look faded away an instant later as he decided the gossip between the monks didn't really matter. "I am not too sure about the close to the heart part, but I find myself thinking more and more that she might hold something important for me. I am just trying to fully understand what and why," he explained.
They watched the activity below them for a few moments in silence. The bishop looked back up at his guest again after a few quiet microts had passed by.
"If I may continue to pry, my friend," he asked. "Have you indeed made a decision in this matter?"
The other, until that point, had really not realized that in fact he had decided at some level.
"My time here has been a much needed respite, reverend one… and I am grateful for the reprieve from being hunted… and the killing," the tall humanoid replied. "I am also very grateful that you did not turn me away when you learned who and what I was."
The bishop held up one large hand to stay him, as they'd had this part of the conversation many times in the last few weekens. "All of Unity's offspring are welcomed here. Forgiveness in her eyes awaits for those who only simply have to ask."
"I know, holy man… you have told me that many times. As many times as I have told you why I cannot ask for forgiveness," he replied, knowing that he had eradicated other men and women of religion during his service to Arckatius's Syndicate House. He then went on, "I had originally thought only to inquire about word of her survival when I started searching. I honestly had no intention of trying to actually unite with her. Now that I know she is alive and well… I find that I am compelled to leave and find her."
"And have you thought as to what end?" asked the old monk.
"I… really… do not know," answered the man. "I only know that the short time I was with her, I… felt…"
The man faltered to a stop with his explanation, which intrigued the priest, as it was one of the longest and most revealing conversations he'd ever had with his strange guest since his arrival.
"Felt what, my friend?" he probed further.
Surprisingly the man simply shrugged. "I cannot describe it," he finally said, "She made me feel… better? Whole? I cannot find the correct word or phrase to tell it."
"Peace?" the old man tried.
The other gave a short snort and his lips broke an even rarer smile for a microt.
"Peace is not a word that I would use to describe her," he supplied. "Instead I would say that being at her side was… important. As if with her, I could become more than what I was." He frowned briefly and gave his head a small shake as if clearing it of some dull thoughts. "Perhaps it was only the nature of the situation we were in at the time," the man continued, "And I will come to discover it was really nothing at all. Still, I feel now as if I have rested enough here, and I've grown sure that the answers I seek will not come to me in this place. Even now, the voices are again beginning to intrude into my sleep… and the dreams have returned."
"The same ones?" asked the old monk.
"Yes," the man replied coldly, "And newer ones. I knew it was only a matter of time before your mediation stones would cease to work at blocking them."
The ancient priest tisked in disappointment, "I had hoped when we found you, that the Fakerri stones would allow you to find your own path to the inner peace within yourself. The vibrations they give off have helped many find the balance they needed. However, I do not recall in my long memory ever having to set so many as we did inside your guest chambers."
The man nodded absently. "They helped for awhile and perhaps that it all that matters. My path must lay elsewhere, that is obvious now."
"You've decided to leave us then?"
"It is time," confirmed the tall man. "What I need now, can only be found back in the Territories. I believe now that I have had the time to reflect that I know the answer to what I must do next. I think there was never really any other choice, and I always knew that somehow. I require only a few more pieces of information before I can begin my task. It will cost me nothing extra to search for her while I also seek what I need."
The bishop regarded him with knowing eyes. His guest was attempting not to place all his hope on finding what he was looking for with this female who shared a major event in his past. But he could tell the girl in the holo image meant something more to the man then he was willing to admit out loud to another soul… or to himself.
The old monk was experienced and sure enough with the nature of all sentient beings, that if his guest's instincts were telling him to find the girl, then it was probably in his best interests to go and do so.
Still there were some other serious matters to address with his visitor before he made up his mind to leave the safety of the monastery.
"It is good I believe that you seek out this female who was so close to you," the monk said.
"It will be… good… to see her again," the other said almost absently again.
The priest bit his lower lip slightly. "I'm sad to point out though, that once you leave the monastery the stones will not be able to block your dreams and visions at all. You will circum to their influence once more in little or no time."
The dark man glance over at the holy man, his eyes nearly lifeless, but the priest was use to that. It was his next comment that froze his blood instead.
"I can control that for the few arns I will be in her company… if I locate her. After that point it will not matter for much longer."
"Please explain," asked the monk. "You are not considering ending your own life, are you?"
The man shook his head in the negative. "No," he replied. "But the end result for where I am finally traveling will in all probability, be the same."
"Where will you be going?"
"Back to where it all began. Back to where I awoke to this life and living nightmare," came the answer. "Back to where I met her… and she gave me a name."
"I still do not understand, my friend," plead the old priest. "Why go back to that dark place? To those people who tortured you? Why go back and throw away the wonderful gifts your friend gave you with your freedom… though I don't understand either, why she would name you, 'Sinn'? I had thought you were being humorous when you told the brothers and myself to call you by that name."
"She did not, and I admit; I was," said the man with a slight cool smirk. "But I believe now that freedom is a gift I am not meant to have. My fate… my purpose, I think is to return and end what they made… of me, and of any others they have enslaved. To make them pay for what they have done."
"Revenge is never a answer," said the monk. "To seek it puts you back on their path."
"Perhaps I never left that path. Besides, I've grown to believe it's all I have left to me."
"There's the girl you seek. Surely all else can be forgotten if she brings you the inner light you search for. Vengeance pales in that respect to the peace you may find after all. "
"She deserves better than what I can offer her. I only wish to be able to see her one last time," he told the holy man, "And maybe, I would be able to hear her sing… one last time."
The old bishop stepped around in front of the man who called himself Sinn to block his sight of the lower caverns and the work going on there.
"What if she is in fact the grace you are seeking? What if she holds the power and the only key to you finding your balance within life? You will never know if you stay only a few arns with her, and then rush off to a meaningless death while seeking revenge. You will never know how close you might have come if you do as you plan."
Surprisingly Sinn had a sudden look of wide-eyed thought upon his usually blank features. Absently he raised a hand to touch the scars at his throat.
"The collar…" he muttered to himself. The casual thought he'd giving to singing made him remember the moments leading up to their escape. He remembered the girl's haunting voice as she sang, how it somehow started the process that allowed him to throw off the collar's electronic slavery over him, something he knew he could never have done on his own.
The female did have some type of power he finally realized, but not in the conventual sense of military or weapon's might. She had made him reach for something deep inside him, awakened some strength not even he had imagined he might have held.
If she didn't have the answers, at least maybe she was the key to unlocking them? Perhaps she could help him silence the voices and quiet the dreams of endless blood and murder? Just maybe with her help, he could feel alive, feel… whole again, and not like the empty shell he'd turned out to be since surviving their escape from the Black Syndicate. In her company… maybe he could learn what it was suppose to be like to matter to another living soul… and have them matter to him also in return.
He suddenly remembered the soft touch of her lips against his, and felt the feeling he'd come to categorize as desperation rise within him. Though it wasn't the same kind of desperation he felt while fighting for his life against bounty hunters, it was a colder, deeper feeling in the pit of his stomach that left a strange thrill inside. While not exactly as threatening as a battle for survival, it was just as strong to him.
She had affected him in countless mysterious ways.
The bishop cocked his head inquisitively to one side, and the movement brought the man back from his thoughts.
"You have considered my words, friend?" he asked.
"You have revealed concepts which I have never considered before, old monk," the man admitted. "I bow to your wisdom in this case… and I am grateful for the enlightenment."
"You will not go right away to the place you escaped from, but instead you will look for this woman and see what peace she may give you?" the priest confirmed.
His visitor nodded slightly. "I will do my best to attempt to locate her," he promised. "If I am successful, I will give your theory time if she is willing to do so."
"I believe that would be for the best… this girl must be extraordinary to have turned a lost soul such as yourself back toward Unity's path. Redemption and balance I judge lay within her hands."
Surprisingly, the dark man barked a short laugh.
"She was a thief!"
The old monk simply smiled and clasped his big hands together in front of him.
"Many of the prophets had nefarious beginnings before finding enlightenment. A lowly thief can better herself and still do the Unity's will. Have you not considered that fact that perhaps you are to be her saving grace yourself?"
The man's eyebrow shot upwards in evident doubt.
"I am a killer. I am no one's saving grace."
The monks own eyes flew open in mock surprise.
"So you say?" he exclaimed good-naturedly. "Then perhaps… the true task Unity has set is really to be hers at reforming you, thus saving her own character and yours in the Unity's eyes?
The visitor frowned and crossed both his arms across his chest. "I hate it when you twist things around like that," he griped lowly.
"That is only because deep down inside yourself… you know I am correct," the bishop replied with a satisfied smile. "In any event, you must realize the fates brought you both together at that time and place for a reason. You must accept that perhaps you are a bigger part of a greater plan… and stay the path."
The tall man drew himself up straighter and gave the old monk a slight frown.
"I cannot guarantee that all shall right itself according to your vision, holy man… even if I am able to find her in time," said the visitor called Sinn. "There are many variables to consider. She may be hidden too well, or not wish to aid me at all. She may be dead at this moment or the Syndicate may find me before I can locate her. But I give you my word, that I will make the attempt before turning to exact my retribution on the Syndicate."
"Then the brothers and sisters and I will pray that you find her swiftly, and that she is the key you seek. Then perhaps the Syndicate will cease to matter to you. They have taken enough from you, and I do not wish them to take anymore." the bishop countered with a sincere smile.
Sinn gazed a few microts at the other and then solemnly nodded his head. There was no purpose at the moment in pointing out the fact that the Black Syndicate would never stop looking or let him go; it would only tarnish the old priests heart-felt good wishes. He half-turned instead to leave the bluff and the old priest when he abruptly halted, and face the bishop again.
"You all have been… kind to me," he said lowly. "None but her have shown me such in my time away from the Black Syndicate. I will remember… and always be grateful."
"And we are grateful that you allowed us to help. All our lives have been enriched by the time we have spent together."
Sinn pursed his lips showing his doubt, but he inclined his head slightly once again in a gesture of respect.
"I believe I benefited more from the relationship."
The bishop chuckled. "You returned more than you know. You leave us with our best wishes and blessings… and an open invitation to return whenever you like… for as long as you wish. An invitation we hope you will take up someday in the future."
"You may not want me back again, priest… if what I believe must be done, comes to pass," he felt he had to warn anyway, "Finding the girl or not… the Syndicate still hunts me, and they will not stop until I am eradicated… or I destroy them. Such is the fate that lays in store for someone such as I. No disrespect meant at your sincere offer, I just felt you should know the truth and that I did not take your kindness lightly."
The bishop shrugged first one shoulder and then the other in the way that most of the monks had in their culture. "It will be as the Unity wills it to be, my son," he answered. "It may well be that her design for you is as you say. You will be welcomed no matter what you do in your time away."
Sinn tightened his lips as if to hide a sudden emotion he didn't know exactly what to do with. The old bishop had seen the look before and knew that the man was touched in some way by his offer. It was an extremely rare instant, but the old cleric treasured each and every time he managed to reach this strange and withdrawn man.
"Thank you," Sinn finally said with a deep respectful bow of his head. This time he did turn to go and was nearly at the bluff's monastery entrance when the old monk remembered something.
"My friend!" he called. The man stopped and turn back to face him from the doorway. "One more curiosity, if I may?"
Sinn lifted an eyebrow, indicating he was waiting for the other to ask his question.
"Would you permit me to know," the bishop asked, "what did the girl truly name you"
The man gave him a small tight smile that actually didn't look forced for a change.
"She named me, Berret," he answered, and then stepped through the doorway.