Chapter 24 - Taking Control
Mother's little girl is starting to grow up...
Her brother's scream echos through Deepground as the Restrictor's whip peels skin from Nero's back.
Shelke watches from the shadows, behind a pillar her fingers gripping it tightly, her blue mako eyes shifting into green catlike ones filled with hate. She siphons off her brother's pain as much as she can, each whip a phantom cut down her back. She had been waiting patiently, learning, growing, experiencing, listening, but it was so hard to wait...
"Mother, please," she begs, "Let me kill the Restrictors, let me protect my family."
She can feel Mother's attention flicker to her, from wherever she had been looking at prior. "Dearest child, your brothers require more time to mature. If we are discovered now..."
"Its not fair to them!" snarled Shelke.
She tenses when she feels Mother's rebuke in her mind, like someone reached inside her flesh and gripped her spine tightly, not to inflict pain, but to give warning and keep her still. "Its rare for you to argue so with me my daughter."
"I'm not angry at you Mother," answered Shelke quietly, "I'm..."
"I know child," chided Mother, "I am in you, you are a part of me, I know what you feel, what you think."
Shelke bowed her head in placation before she hissed when another whip ripped across her and Nero's back. "This has to stop."
"And what would you do?" asked Mother, her tone oddly neutral, "Do not forget that I am not more than a presence here, I cannot physically aid you. How would you go about attaining freedom without risking everything?"
Shelke's eyebrows furrow, her green eyes glistening with interest. Mother only took that tone when she was trying to teach a lesson. As if...
Her eyes went wide. Oh...
Shelke licked her lips nervously. Mother wasn't denying her. Denying them. She was guiding them. Guiding her. Giving her a chance to prove herself worthy of Mother's love, of being Mother's chosen. That's why they were still waiting, because Shelke had been so foolishly waiting for Mother to hold her hand and pull her to freedom instead of reaching out and grabbing it. Mother had already given her the tools to free herself and her siblings, the explosive control chips were pushed out, Mother made big brother Weiss immune to the virus the Restrictors foolishly thought could kill him. Mother had made Shelke able to give the Gift to others, enabled her to change small parts her own body, told her stories of how Mother herself had won some of her battles...
Waiting for her brothers to age and mature was a test, a test that Shelke would fail if that was what she waited for, because then she wouldn't be worthy, one of them would, she would fail Mother by proving herself a weak little girl waiting for someone else to save her. Shelke already had everything she needed.
Shelke feels Mother's grip loosen, illusionary hands ruffling through Shelke's hair. "How will you free your siblings, my daughter?"
She swallows back her instinctive desire to go out there and gut the Restrictor where he stood. She sends her love to Nero and the message 'soon', before she grips the pillar, her hands secreting a stickyess allowing her to crawl up it, her small lithe body pressing against the metal, moving through the shadows as she leaves. She begins to calculate how much time she has before her presence is request for more Synaptic Net Dive experiments. She needs a list of her objectives...
Kill the Restrictors...
No, no, that is her desire, but that is not the main objective, in fact... it may be counterproductive. The main objective is to take over Deepground without being revealed. In order to do that...
1) Communications needs to be cut... no, controlled. If communication is cut, then that will draw attention. This needs to happen before anything else, then...
2) She needs to take over key positions within Deepground, alienate and convert each section one by one.
3) Deepground must appear to be functioning as normal to anyone who comes to check, either physically or through cameras, as such, there cannot be large collateral damage or huge loss of life when the takeover happens.
4) The Restrictors... need to be neutralized. Shelke is not sure if there is some kind of alarm tied to their deaths, there is already the trap for Weiss, so it stands to reason there might be more. It fills her with rage to spare them, but if it means protecting her family, she will.
Shelke considers her objectives, and how she might go about them. Its annoying that she cant directly kill those she wants to, but if that's what Mother needed, then she could use anyone as a blunt object. No, Mother needed an instrument, not power, but cunning. Very rarely in Mother's stories did she ever just blunt force take over a world, no, she infiltrated first, subverted and spread... yes... that's what Shelke needed. Mother's gift had already been given to her brothers and sisters... so...
"Mother, we can use the Gift to control the unworthy, correct?" asked Shelke.
"Of course."
Shelke stopped her crawling and smiled widely; that tone... Mother was pleased, she was on the right track. Shelke continues to crawl upward onto the ceiling, carefully skirting cameras as she went, staring down across Reactor Zero. She closes her eyes, places a hand against the ceiling and feels. She senses the wiring, senses the connection... and Net Dives; with Mother's blessings, she doesn't even need an interface or a helmet. Any connection works. So she digs and pulls up a full map, then, she looks for location authorization, where her brothers and sisters of various rank are allowed to go or not.
Shelke does not have as much authorization as the other Tsviets. So she makes a mental note that she needs someone else for part of this. She dives further into files, looking into who was stationed where. She identifies everyone who has access and is stationed to the communications room. Shinra keeps it incredibly limited, no one from outside can call in and no one inside can call out without somehow circumventing encryption and blockage beyond her current abilities. But that's fine, that works well for her. If she controls the sole means of communications, things become a simple mater of time.
The communication room has three primary workers who go in shifts. Her eyes flicker through their profiles, three Shinra officers 'reassigned' to Deepground. Nothing truly worthwhile to try and convert into the family. Though, one of them was noted to be a womanizer... and that brought up an idea based on some of the stories Mother told her. She grinned, grabbed their schedules, and pulled out. She'd attend her next SND session before she went to find Rosso...
Shelke knelt behind a set of storage crates, eyes watching as her target made their way down the hallway back towards the barracks. He foolishly kept a standard route that didn't change day to day, assuming his position in communications gave him some kind of protection. Deepground was a ruthless place, even after Mother soothed tensions between her lesser children, such arrogance could get the fool killed easily. Or, made him an easy target in one of the few hallways that didn't have full camera coverage.
The moment he was in position, Rosso strode into view, eying the man with predator delight. "Ah, what do we have here I wonder?"
The man froze, holding up one hand while another went for a radio on his belt. "Back off Crimson, you touch me and the Restrictors will..."
"Tsk tsk tsk," chided Rosso, "So quick to judge. I'm not here for blood..."
She starts to so very slowly unzip her mako suit top. "I crave a, different, sating today. Would you care to give it to me?"
The man's eyes go wide with predictable hunger, his hand moving away from the radio. The man approaches, grasping at Rosso's chest before Rosso grapples him, her arms pulling him tight to her body, her lips dominating his, but her eyes are over the man's shoulder on Shelke. Shelke smiles, her lips peeling back into a cruel sneer. She approaches, her footfall so soft that the disgusting face-sucking masks it. Her arm begins to twist and morph, fingers sinking into her hands, her palm splitting open, a tentacle pushing through it. She grins at Rosso, and the woman's eyes sparkle with sadistic delight.
She parts their mouths for a moment, watching the man struggle to breath. "Oh yes, I crave something different indeed, a different sustenance. So would you scream for me, little man? Feed me your terror."
She man startles. "What?"
Rosso dominates his mouth against as Shelke closes the distance and thrusts her tentacled arm into the man's back. The communication's officer screams into Rosso's mouth as Shelke pulses the Gift down her arm and into the man, black ichor spilling into him and down his back, subverting and dominating his body. She feels Mother rip apart the fool's free will and identity, puppeting him to their whims. Shelke withdraws her arm and begins to morph it back into its normal form. Rosso pulls back from the mind-slave, wiping her mouth off before fixing her top.
"All done, sister dearest?" inquired Rosso.
Shelke smiled up at her. "Yep! You did good big sis."
Rosso sighed with disappointment. "It was to easy, men are so predictable."
She reaches up and pats the man's cheeks with her hand. Looking into his dead-vacant stare. "Isn't that right?"
"Its better that way, you'll get your fun when we go see the sky," answers Shelke, placing her hand on the man's back, focusing her desires, and speaks with contempt for the pathetic lifeform, "You will go to the Barracks, wake up your co-worker, and draw him out here. Then, when the next shift is over, you will do the same for the other, is that clear?"
The voice is dead. "Yes."
Shelke smiled up at him. "Good. Maybe as a reward, we'll keep you around to feed Mother when the times come to gather nourishment to survive our journey through the stars. Would you like that? Would you like to be worthy of being food? For your worthless life to have meaning?"
The man's voice trembles with yearning. "Yes..."
Rosso throws back her head and laughs. "Such a good little worm, be on your way."
Shelke's green eyes glisten with malice, the lightning flickering, leaving her face shifting between illumination and shadow that greets the next one to be puppeted, with nowhere for him to run or go. The final one, Mother carefully instructs Shelke on how to rip his mind apart on her own...
It was a slow, subtle thing, as the months passed.
Where the Gift had initially been spread to free their siblings, both the greater ones in the Tsviets and the lesser ones in the normal members, now it spread in a different capacity. With control of the communications center secured, various officers of differing positions were called into isolated rooms, thrown at Shelke's feet where their minds were torn to shreds, before being gifted to Mother to puppet. They took control of the exits directly after communications, a watcher on the single elevator up, and the large gateway that the bulk of Deepground soldiers and armored division could at some point use to go through when it was unsealed. Then, with communications and the exits controlled, it was time to spread...
She took security. From there, control over each and every camera could be disabled at whim, videos edited or looped. Sections could be isolated and shut down with the press of a button, power cut. They could pinpoint the position of every Restrictor at will, and always knew their location. Even more, they could spy on the rest of Deepground and decide where to strike next, or at whom. Shelke took her time, watching cameras and identifying patterns to how people moved, who of importance went where with whom. She left her puppets there under Mother's control, alerting her to anything that needed attention.
She took over medical. Walking through the room, her hands going over bandages, leaving a thin layer of the Gift on them. She opened every capsule or beaker or vial or vaccine and dripped the Gift through her fingers into them. Every medical instrument was coated with the Gift. Any and all who came for aid would find no salvation, only Mother's gaping maw to deliver them a new purpose, their worthless lives used to feed her, their living corpses dominated to Mother's will.
She took over supply, controlling who was allowed what. The inside of clothing was given the same coating she gave the medical bandages. She opened every water tank, one by one, and used an EM-Saber to sever a hand unflinching, watching as it fell in and willed it to dissolve into cells, spreading the Gift through the tank, her hand regrowing as she moved to the next. She placed her hand over every crate of food, an ooze crawling down from her touch to infiltrate the contents, bestowing the Gift upon it. Any who came for sustenance would only find themselves giving it to Mother instead.
She took engineering, enslaving the men and woman to in turn enslave anything with code to their whim, a single codeword sent through the Synaptic Web would give complete control to Shelke. She stopped there for a time, learning how various systems worked, different coding languages, how weapons and machinery were put together. She found that with Mother's gifts, she could alter her memory to be perfect. She memorized everything, and Mother approved, oh it was bliss to feel that approval. Mother had such a vast network of memories, she knew so much, she delighted in the consumption of entire civilizations, entire worlds. She sometimes teased Shelke with unknown musics, poetry, images of artwork, and more. She encouraged Shelke to devour knowledge of everything...
She took over the labs, freeing any of Mother's children from experimentation and instead subjugating the scientists or those deemed to pathetic to be of use to them instead. Shelke took great delight when Mother did not dissuade her from throwing the scientists who had hurt her specifically into Mako showers until they mutated and deformed, no, Mother encouraged her, told her to take her revenge. So she walked in after and stabbed them, cut them, slaughtered them, butchered them into bloody pieces all the while laughing giggling hiccuping and screaming and crying, so much anger and hate and pain filling her, Mother's love the only thing holding her together from falling into complete madness as she relived her suffering and inflicted it upon them, for she did not let them die, mutilated as they were, until she had paid them back tenfold, begging Mother to reform their bodies so Shelke could start all over again...
She took control of the breeding area next, and she barely contained her hate as she came to understand what exactly that meant, her mentality and understanding forced to mature, her brain shifting at Mother's prodding despite her body being unable to mature without Mother's physical and direct healing. These men and woman were forced to procreate and deliver children into Shinra's slavery. She examined each one, their files, and physically. Some of the youngest of Deepground's soldiers had been born from these people. Rosso, Weiss, Nero, they had been born here. These she welcomed into the family, tending their minds and healing them. She granted the young mother's Mother's mercy, with a wave of her hand she willed away the black spots coating their bodies and pregnant bellies. Mother did not like sharing the role of motherhood, she whispered to Shelke that her Gift did not usually react well to woman, especially pregnant woman. But for Shelke, Mother would allow them to live. It made Shelke smile, Mother was so kind and generous to her children...
She took over the officer's and civilian barracks last. Shutting down the camera's, locking them in and cordoning off each building, each room. One by one, each room was opened, and Mother's children poured in, Shelke casually walking in as the unworthy were pinned down. She raised a palm to their foreheads, her fingers digging in tightly, a tendril pushing out of her palm to spear slowly and painfully through their skull before pumping the Gift into their heads, their screams musical as black ichor poured out of their eyes and ears. She spread the gift to the last of those who hadn't been uplifted into the family or dominated.
Everything belonged to Shelke.
Belonged to Mother.
Save for four Restrictors who had no idea what was coming for them.
She had swore she would kill them.
Ripping out their minds and enslaving their wills to Mother would be so much more satisfying...
Shelke stepped into the training ring, her brothers and sisters playing along with the Restrictors sadistic games, laughing and jeering at her all the while mentally cheering for her.
"Today, the Translucent will face Sable," instructed the head Restrictor, motioning as Shelke's brother was led in on chains, "Your ability to SND is important, but all Tsviets must be able to at least pass some level of combat. Your objective is to survive for... five minutes. If you can't manage that, then you have little worth."
Nero was unchained, and under his mask, he smiled at her.
She smiled back.
"Begin."
Neither of them moved.
The Restrictor shifted on his feet. "I said BEGIN."
Shelke tilted her head. "Shall we brother?"
"Yes sister, yesssss," he hissed through his mask, "At long last."
"Do I have your blessing Mother?" asked Shelke, aloud and mentally.
"Oh child, it has been a treasure to watch you learn and grow," praised Mother with fierce all consuming pride, her presence encompassing Shelke, filling her body with raw power, "Receive my gift, take revenge for your siblings, and pass your last test."
Shelke suckered in a breath as something shifted and mutated under her left shoulderblade. She threw her arm to the side as a black and blood-red wing exploded through her mako suit, stretching out longer than she was tall. Her family stared at her with awe as the Restrictors startled.
"Nero," said Shelke as she eyed her gift, eyed Mother's blessing with wonder, "Bring them then join your siblings."
Nero hesitated. "All of them?"
"Yes."
"But sister... by yourself?"
Shelke turn her eyes to her brother, smiling as her green catlike irises focused on him. "Do not fear my brother. Do not fear. Mother is with me."
Nero warped, shadows spreading through the area. When it faded, all four Restrictors were in the ring with her. Nero, Weiss, Rosso, and Argento residing in their previous spots overlooking the arena. The lead one whirled, looking up at them, before turning and glaring at Shelke. "What is this?"
Shelke flapped her wing and lifted off, feeling Mother's guidance as she used her energy to support her uneven flight, to borderline levitate with a slow repeated flap. "It is the beginning of Mother's reckoning. I will destroy you, best you in battle, rip apart your minds, enslave your living corpses to our will. We will continue to grow until we are ready. Once that time come I will go to Mother and reunite with her. From there Mother will take her revenge on this world that has so wronged her."
Her lips peeled back into a sadistic grin. "All. Life. Will. End..."
The Restrictor fished out a remote control out of his pocket and clicked it at her.
A dark giggle escaped her lips as nothing happened. "...and will become part of Mother."
She activated her EM-Sabers and dove down, an ominous black and orange glow echoing behind her. She clove into the Restrictor, severing the hand holding the remove with one saber, slashing deep into his chest with the other before flooring him to the ground. The other three drew their gunblades as Shelke landed, rolled, and surged forward at inhuman speeds. She felt Mother's power coursing through her, putting her so far above what she would have been normally. The Restrictors were powerful enhanced SOLDIERs, supposedly First Class. Yet to her, it was like the Restrictors moved in slow motion. The exhilaration was unbelievable, her blood pulsing through her veins, her eyes maniacal with glee, a splitting creepy smile across her face, Mother's song a hymn in her mind.
She spun, sabers blocking gunblades, her slim and small body moving to dodge the third before she twirled and swung, severing the arm of the third gripping the gunblade before he could lift it back off the ground. He cried out, but to his credit, he turned and backhanded her with his other gauntlet rather than panic. Shelke staggered and then leaped back when the other two swung at her. Her tongue slowly stretched outside of her mouth at unnatural length, licking the blood dripping out of her nose and down her cut cheeks.
"What the fuck?!"
A wing flapped.
A Restrictor screamed.
Blood sprayed.
Blood-red and black feathers swirling through the air.
Shelke giggled.
The feathers condensed and stuck together, gripping each Restrictor, stretching down to cling to the floor, marring their movements. She drove forward, spearing a Restrictor right through his center, severing his spine and dropping him to the ground. The remaining two, one unharmed, the other one-armed, moved to confront her. The onearm aimed his gunblade and shot at her, but she was already gone, dodging the bullets with ease. She parried aside a swing of the gunblade with one saber and then speared it through the Restrictor's knee with the other, pulling out and pushing off the ground with her feet as he fell, wing curling around her as she spun towards the last Restrictor. She severed the gunblade in half and then stabbed him clean through his chest, straight middle, right through his spine as well. She hummed in contentment as the three laid at her feet...
An arm without a hand wrapped around her throat, lifting her up before a gunblade erupted through her chest. Shelke startled, gazing at her bloody end of the blade with a flicker of annoyance. She turned her head, and it twisted completely around, her bones shifting to allow it, gazing at the first, lead Restrictor she had floored to the ground at the start as he made a startled choking sound. "What the hell are you?"
"Mother's/My Chosen One," whispered Shelke, a second voice echoing with her, "The one who will deliver her/me this world."
One hand gripped the gunblade, preventing it from being withdrawn, the other hand dropped its EM-Saber and began to twist and mutate. The fingers elongated as the arm stretched behind her, grabbing the Restrictor's mask and ripping it off. Her hand rippled into a large flat surface that encompassed the Restrictor's screaming face. Shelke began to giggle uncontrollably, her childlike laughter echoing through the arena as she began to tear into his mind until there was nothing left in them, in Deepground, but Mother's will...
Author's Note: The next time we see Shelke wont be for a bit, but when we do, the end begins, as she'll be making her way to Mother...
Review Responses:
The Unplanner: I have no set writing Schedule for any of my stories. I have multiple chapters in progress for several stories, example that you would be interested in: Chapter 25 of Jenova Project K is at 5.5k words and getting closer to finish. I get sidetracked a lot though, with Work, with other stories to write, with reading, with gaming. No one story ever permanently overtakes another for me, its all a matter of interest and motivation.
Patrick: Maybe. The shift is rather abrupt instead of a slowly moving out of the intense stuff. Angeal is also, with intent and purpose, focusing on anything not-negative. Kind of avoiding having to deal with anything harsh, we'll get into that next chapter with him and Aerith. Which stories I update is a fickle thing, I have my focuses and intents, it varies.
WanderingStarmaster: If it does continue, it'll be a background thing, not another chapter.