Chapter 13

The train journey had lasted forever until they finally arrived at Sanders' hometown of Paynester. However, the railway station was far away from the village center, i.e., the marketplace. The railway had been built much later than the town and due to urbanization, the town had not grown towards the railway since its construction.

-"Whoa!... it's kind of underwhelming…" Atlanta said after stepping off the train and looking around.

-"I did not claim otherwise. A bit different than the New York City."

-"A bit? I can see like three houses and the rest is trees!"

They took their backpacks and set off to walk along the gravel road that led towards the town center. After walking for a while, they started seeing some fields and houses. Sanders answered Atlanta's questions about the houses and their hosts:

"Phillips' younger son lives there. He is renting the land of old Parker for the seventh year now."

-"What about over there?" Atlanta asked as they approached a run-down farm.

-"That… Parker's son William lived there before he hung himself. He was 'bout my age. I guess he had too much debt, I don't know."

-"Oh…"

They turned around when they heard cart's rumbling behind them, and someone shouted:

"C'mon! Faster boys!"

They watched the cart and its driver coming from the side of the road. The cart arrived at them and the man with a graying moustache yelled:

"Slooow up! Whoa whoa whoa, who-oa."

As the cart stopped next to them and the two horses pulling it snorted. The man driving the cart straightened his flat cap and turned to look at the two walkers:

-"Look at ya! The great sir has come back again!" He joked and turned to look at Atlanta "And who's this with you? And what is that skirt ya have?! I have seen grannies with longer briefs than that! And that hair color!"

Atlanta's face turned beet red, and she grabbed on to the hem of her skirt. Sanders also, a little embarrassed, patted the horse and said:

-"Morning to you, Tom. She's Atlanta. One of the KANSEN if you have read the newspaper."

-"Well would you look at that!" Tom said, raised his eyebrows and leaned towards them as if to see Atlanta better "I wouldn't have guessed that there would be a day that I'd meet a KANSEN in one of my last days." He took his hat of his head and extended his hand to Atlanta. "Good day, Miss. I'm Thomas Miller even though everyone calls me Tom or Tommy."

Atlanta, a little hesitant, squeezed Thomas' hand and said:

"Hi, I'm light cruiser Atlanta."

Thomas ran his hand through his thin gray hair and said:

"You get to bring ladies home from the frontlines? Maybe I should see if they'd let me enlist!" He exclaimed.

-"Heh, not quite. I am on a business trip, so to speak. We have to leave tomorrow morning already."

-"Damn, and here I thought I'd get to bring a young lass home with me every holiday. Oh well, but where ya heading to? To Your farm?"

-"Uh, Well, it's not mine but yes." Sanders answered and scratched the Horse's ears.

-"Really? You have to tell the old man to get the papers sorted soon! After all, he doesn't seem to be able to uphold it without you, so it's about time to change generations already."

-"I guess…"

-"Well, but still, jump aboard! I'll give ya a ride to town center! I'm taking milk to the processing plant anyways."

-"Thanks, Tom."

They climbed on to the back of the cart and hung their legs off the back. When they set off again Atlanta shot a questioning stare towards Sanders and he had to explain:

"Thomas is our family friend. Everyone knows him around here."

XXX

After saying goodbyes to old Tom, they continued their journey on foot again. Thanks to the ride they got from Tom, their walking distance had been shortened by a few miles. They crossed a small river or rather a ditch where was already a lot of life as the water sought its way between rocks, twigs and peat.

-"That's a pretty sight." Atlanta said as she leaned against the railing of the small wooden bridge and watched the flow of water beneath her.

-"Yeah, I guess it is." Sanders said and moved next to Atlanta.

Atlanta rolled a small stone in her hands anxiously. Sanders looked at her. The edges of his lips curled into a small smile when he noticed it but didn't say anything. However, he got serious when Atlanta said slowly:

"What do you think your family thinks of me?"

Sanders thought about it for a moment before he answered:

"Well, Anna is probably exited when he sees you. Hard to say about the others but I don't think they'll think badly of you. They probably are a bit leery, but that is always the case." Sanders pulled out a cigarette.

Atlanta snatched the matches from him and asked:

"Do they know I'm with you?"

Sanders tried to grab his matches back, but Atlanta moved them beyond his reach.

-"No they don't. They don't even know that I'm coming home this time, but I usually don't inform them about my comings."

-"Why not?" Atlanta asked and tossed the matches back to him.

-"It has often happened that my vacation has been canceled at the last moment. Besides I don't want them to make too big plans about my comings and goings." Sanders said and lit his cigarette.

-"Is that so?" Atlanta chuckled and they started walking once again.

XXX

The distance from the ditch to Sanders' home wasn't long and in twenty minutes they were at the gate that led to the yard.

Sanders glanced at his watch; it was a little over seven. Everyone should be awake, even though they saw no-one. They walked through the gate and in the middle of the yard. They noticed movement and some noise coming from the barn. Making their way towards the barn Atlanta took a couple of deep breaths and Sanders patted her shoulder.

-"Good morning!" Arthur called out and waited.

"Wha-!" Someone exclaimed and they heard stuff falling over "Shit!" and someone rushed out of the barn.

"Artie!" Anna exclaimed and almost stumbled over running towards him. Anna stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Atlanta. "Whoa! You brought a girl home?"

-"I-uh…" Sanders tried to say while scratching the back of his head.

Anna quickly made her way up to Atlanta and looked her up and down:

"Hello who are you?" She asked and let her hair fall down.

-"Hi, I'm Atlanta, nice to meet you."

Anna knit her brows together and turned to look at Sanders who just said:

"Yeah, she's a KANSEN."

-"Whoa!" Anna squeaked and shook Atlanta's hand fiercely "Nice to meet you too, Atlanta! I'm Anna, Arthur's younger sister!" Then she turned to Sanders with a wide grin and said "You're already bringing a girl home from that base. Why didn't you answer when I asked if you fancied any of them?!"

-"This is just a business trip. Had to take one of them with me." Arthur said. Atlanta glanced at Arthur with a hurt expression, but Anna turned back to her and said to him:

"Yeah, keep saying that all you want." Then she leaned a bit forward and whispered to Atlanta "Don't worry, I know how he can be." Then she glanced at Atlanta's hair and said in awe "Whoa! How did you get your hair to be this color?"

-"Uh- I was born with it." Atlanta said overwhelmed by Anna's personality which was the complete opposite from Arthur.

-"That's so cool!" Anna exclaimed and almost reached out and touched it before she caught herself and laughed "Sorry! It's just I haven't seen anyone with so bright hair." She turned towards Arthur and gave him a tight hug "Some of the hay bales fell over. Arthur, could you? Please?"

Arthur just waved his hand and walked into the barn to look for the fallen hay bales. After he left Atlanta and Anna alone Anna said:

"Ahh… He seems different."

-"He does?" Atlanta blurted out and raised her eyebrows.

-"Yeah," Anna said and sighed "After the war started he has always been very absent when he had been here. Well, especially after… after Leo and Alice… It is like he doesn't like being at home anymore. But he seems different now." She nodded towards Atlanta "I know there's something between you and him, am I right?"

-"I-uh" Atlanta blushed and diverted her gaze from Anna and nodded slowly "I guess there is."

Anna smiled warmly at her for a moment:

"Heh, I'm glad. He hasn't brought any girls home and I feared a bit that he wasn't interested."

-"I can imagine." Atlanta chuckled.

Arthur had found and restacked the fallen hay bales and came out from the barn:

"All done."

-"Thanks, Artie. I-" Anna's sentence was cut short by an angry "MmoOoo!" that came from inside the cowhouse. At least one of the cows was not pleased that milking was delayed. Anna chuckled and continued, "I would love to just laze around here and chat, but I guess Nettie doesn't agree with me. Go see the old grumpy man, he should be less cranky by now. I'll join you shortly… Oh and could you tell him to stop trying to give me 'advise' because it's really not helping."

-"Yeah, we'll do that."

XXX

Arthur opened the living room's door and said:

"Greetings from war."

His father, Thomas Sanders was sitting in a rocking chair and His mother was sewing something next to him.

-"Arthur, you came!" His mother cried in joy.

-"I came, and we'll go again soon."

-"We?" Thomas managed to ask before Atlanta stepped out behind Arthur. She greeted them and smiled a bit shyly.

-"This is Atlanta. One of the KANSEN. We're on a business trip and just passing through." Arthur explained to his parents while Atlanta fidgeted.

Arthur's mother shook Atlanta's hand and said:

"Oh, it's lovely to meet you, Atlanta. I hope Arthur hasn't been too much of a bother to you."

After retreating, his mother walked next to Thomas and poked him with her elbow. Clearing his throat Thomas stood up and shook Atlanta's hand as well "Right, right. Nice to meet you." Then he turned to Arthur and asked, "Is she from that military port where you are stationed or?"

-"She is. But like I said we are just passing through here. We are needed at Base Lima and Paynester happens to be along the way. We'll spend the night and head off the first thing tomorrow morning if it's alright."

-"Well of course it is. Come on let's go to the kitchen and I'll make some breakfast for you two."

XXX

-"Yo!" Anna barged into the kitchen and immediately received an angry glare from her mother.

-"Did you give Nettie her flour?" Thomas asked from her.

-"I did." She said annoyed and made her way towards the table and sat down next to Arthur.

-"Did you grease her udders?"

-"Yes!" She answered angrily "I did everything the same way I did yesterday and the day before and so on and so on! Could you stop bothering me with these reminders I know what to do and what not to."

-"It's good to be sure." Arthur said and scratched his chin.

-"Oh come on! You are supposed to be on my side!" Anna said and leaned against him.

-"Yes, I'm sitting right here." Arthur said with a slight smile.

-"Oh ha-ha. Not funny." Anna said and tried to conceal her chuckle.

Arthur looked at her with that slight smile before he turned towards his father and asked:

"How are things around here?"

-"Good enough." Thomas answered and looked out of the window "Some minor problems here and there but you know how it is."

-"Well, enough about us! How about you? How have you been? You haven't sent us any letters since the last time you came." Arthur's mother said while pouting.

-"Well… Base Azure got attacked and we went and relieved it."

-"Oh lord!" His mother gasped "Was it bad?"

-"Well, we've been in worse situations but lost a few good men."

-"You knew any of them?"

-"… Yeah…" Arthur answered.

He was back in the forest. He saw Brown and Cooper spring up from a hole and run towards the machinegun nest that was suppressing them. He saw Cooper take a few steps before halting completely and falling after standing there for a moment. He was sure Cooper had taken a hit but didn't know how severe it was.

He saw how some men carried the dead into the base and recognized Cooper laying on the back of one cart. One of his arms was hanging out of the cart, like reaching to touch the ground.

He saw the line of dead men who were all laying on grass waiting for the ship to take them back home. He walked and crouched next to Cooper's body. Someone had closed his eyes and buttoned his jacket. He took a blanked and covered Cooper with it. He knew it really didn't matter but it was a nice gesture, the least he could now.

-"Arthur?"

-"Hmh?" He answered when he was snapped out of his thoughts.

-"I-uh… Anna could you take Atlanta and show her around the house?" Arthur's mother said with a worried look on her face.

-"Yeah, sure. Come on, Atlanta, I'll show you around."

They sat in silence after the girls left the kitchen. Thomas sat down in front of Arthur and shifted on his bench a bit nervously before he slowly started:

-"Ahem." He cleared his throat "What-uh, what would you say if we started planning that you would take over here? Not right away, but the sooner the better."

Arthur looked into the old man's blue eyes for a moment before turning away and looking out of the window at the barn:

-"Um. Probably not worth doing it yet. When we don't know what's going to happen."

His father was silent and looked at him:

"… Yeah… You're probably right… We was thinking about buying that Miller's shred of forest that way." Thomas pointed towards the gate.

-"Oh, what for?"

-"If we dug it up and turned into a field. On the surface it's swampy, but it's just a thin layer of it."

-"It wouldn't grow anything for many years, but if you get it for a reasonable price."

Thomas let out a small laugh and said:

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

XXX

XXX

Everything was white. She did not see nor feel anything. Only white nothingness. It lasted a long time, too long. Reed tried to open her eyes, but her eyes were already open, well she thought that they were at least. A bit by bit her body started to feel something. It always came with a tremendous pain. It started from her toes and moved up to her ankles. She tried to scream but nothing came out. Without the sense of touch in her upper body, she wasn't even sure if she was trying to scream. Her toes curled and the muscles in her body tensed. The pain passed through her whole body and it was as quickly gone as it had come.

She blinked her eyes rapidly trying to adjust to her surroundings. The same old white void with the table and her. But that wasn't the first thing she noticed, no. The first thing she noticed was that the Siren wasn't there waiting for her with her ugly smile.

She tried to turn her head to look to her right but stopped immediately when her neck cramped up. Still, this was nothing new, aside from the missing Siren but she could just wait. And wait she did. She waited for what felt like eternity before she started hearing something coming closer to her behind her. Footsteps. Wet, bare feet slapping against stone. The footsteps grew louder and louder before the one walking stopped right behind her and breathed onto her neck. The hairs on her neck stood up when the cold breath graced her skin:

-"Hello, good friend. I must apologize that I'm a bit late… Had something important to do." The one behind her said.

-"Friend?" She asked and tried to lean forward, away from whoever was behind her.

-"Well, I thought I could start calling you that. I mean we have met here, oh how many times now? Fifteen? Sixteen? Seventeen?"

A small cold hand landed on her shoulder and squeezed it slightly. The fingers of the hand were slick, long and pale as ash. The hand started to slide down from her shoulder and onto her chest. The fingers slipped inside her shirt and she shuttered from their coldness.

The Siren behind her laughed and redacted her fingers slowly, not before caressing her throat and lips with them. She had a huge urge to try and bite the fingers, but she remembered the last time she had tried to do so.

"You have to excuse me, but the human body still intrigues me so much." The Siren said and walked past her and sat down in front of her behind the small table.

-"Tea? Or would you like some coffee?" Observer Alpha asked and a kettle with two cups appeared on the table out of nowhere.

-"Doesn't matter. None of this is real."

Observer Alpha put down the kettle and looked at Reed with a sad expression:

"My… Haven't you learned anything from our… counselling?"

One of her black tentacles with yellow suction cups shot towards her and wrapped around her bicep with great force. She tried to yank herself free but to no avail. She turned to look at Observer Alpha, but she just stared at her with a nasty smile.

A terrible pain shot through her arm and made her hunch over. The suctions cups on Observer Alpha's tentacles burned her arm. She tried to struggle herself free, but the sturdy restraints held her in place. It felt almost like the restraints were tightening around her ankles and wrists when she tried to struggle.

She opened her mouth to cry out in agony, but it was cut short by Observer Alpha's other tentacle that shot towards her and forced its way into her open mouth. She instinctively tried to bite the foreign object in her mouth, but the tentacle was too hard. She tried to obstruct the tentacle by her tongue, but it didn't even matter. The tip of the tentacle forced her tongue down and slowly started making its way down her throat. She tried to lean back and turn her head away from the Siren, but other tentacles took hold of her and held her down. One of the slimy tentacles started slowly to wrap around her neck and two others made their way up her legs and caressed her inner thighs.

-"Like I was saying I'm disappointed, you know? I thought you would have learned at least something after all these sessions but no… Well, I guess it's not really your fault. You don't have a word describing this dimension in your language. It's more than just a dream but not the so-called reality. Everything that happens here to you, happens to you wherever you are right now. I thought you would have noticed after that abrasion I left on your ankle after our second or third meeting here."

Reed leered at her trying her best not to gag. The black restraint around her left ankle snapped and one of the tentacles raised her leg slowly against her chest. Observer Alpha laughed as she took a sip from her tea:

"But today's session isn't like that. I don't have time to finish you nor am I in the mood today." As quickly as the tentacles had taken a hold of her, they retracted and left her gasping for air and coughing out slime "We'll just have a nice little chat and continue with out da-… Well, I guess that's night for your but still."

-"Fuck… you…" Reed managed to say between her coughs. The suction cups had left nasty burn marks on her left arm.

-"Hah, yes." Observer Alpha laughed "But you don't mind me changing the subject, do you? Good. How have you been? I know that you took a lot of casualties from out little visit."

Reed just glared at her.

-"Oh, right. Last time you spoke with… Purifier, right? I hope she wasn't too harsh with you. I know when she gets excited, she can go a bit too far."

-"Oh, don't you worry about that. We did just fine."

-"That's good to hear." Observer Alpha smiled "I've been wondering how you got to be the commander of the KANSEN. Don't get me wrong you're doing great, but you are a bit young, aren't you? I haven't asked but how old are you?"

-"You have asked." Reed answered coldly.

The Siren looked puzzled for a moment trying to remember:

"Oh, that's right!" She answered with a small chuckle "It was the first time, right? Back when we couldn't do any talking because you were screaming at me all the time and I had to gag you. Oh, how has our relationship improved over these sessions, it's wonderful."

-"Yeah… Wonderful. Maybe I should start bringing freshly baked cookies to go with the tea." Reed mocked and lowered her left leg down from the armrest where the tentacle had lifted it.

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea. You see, in no time I can stop restraining you to that chair and we can just chat without any hostilities. Maybe I should bring armchairs here, these crude chairs make this look like an interrogation session." Observer Alpha turned to look at the chairs. "A carpet could also bring some life here… Yellow or a green one? Or would it be too bright?... Maybe I should test a few and see how they look." She thought out loud to herself.

-"Can we just get on with this?"

-"I guess there's still a lot to do when it comes to you." The Siren sighed and poured herself more tea "Does this place make you feel threatened? I feel like you're angry because this place doesn't look very inviting. Maybe the white void is unnerving to you, but I won't change that. You see I quite like this place."

Reed just stared at Observer Alpha angrily. The Siren took a long sip from her tea before placing the cup down.

-"Are you in a hurry to be somewhere? I guess that's possible, but you've been here only for a few hours and the clock is not even past four. That Sandal-man is not going to be back any time soon, and you know it. You need those papers to be accepted before you can really start rebuilding."

All color drained from Reed's face when Observer Alpha said that. The Siren had known exactly what she was thinking. Observer Alpha smirked when she saw Reed's face:

"It's so weird that you still think you can keep secrets from me. But don't worry about the Sandler-man or whatever his name is. He's not in danger nor is your base… yet… I shouldn't be helping you this much but oh well. Yes, there is some other stuff happening but it's not like you could have done anything about it even if your base was in prime condition."

-"Why are you telling me this?" Reed asked with a shaky voice. Her hands were balled in fists.

-"Truth be told, I didn't mean to tell you that but I can't be bothered to wipe your memory and I guess you deserve to know at least the basics. Have you wondered what our goals are?"

-"Oh, no I have never ever wondered about that but do tell."

-"Stop mocking me." Observer Alpha said with serious face "Knowledge is the most important thing in this world. The one who is the most knowledgeable is also the most powerful. If one knows everything they will always come on top. We seek that knowledge because it's the most important thing there is…"

-"Go on…" Reed said after Observer Alpha grew silent.

-"No, I don't think I will. It would be a shame if you didn't have anything to look forward to on our next meeting."

Reed stared at the Siren who snapped her fingers and tray full of weird looking pasties appeared out of nowhere and hovered slightly over the table before it dropped with an audible "thump".

-"Oh my look at the clock." Observer Alpha said surprised. "I am expected somewhere in ten, so I guess we have to end our little teatime here."

Observer Alpha stood up and a red and black portal appeared right behind her.

-"Wait! Aren't you going to show me those visions?"

The Siren turned around and massaged her chin before she said:

"Nope. Not this time." And stepped through the portal.

XXX

Reed woke up flinching. Her whole body was covered in cold sweat, and her blanket was lying on the floor. She stood up with shaky legs and staggered herself into her bathroom. She washed her face with cool water and stared at herself in the mirror. She let out a loud yelp when she noticed them: round burn marks around her left arm.

She took a step back from the mirror and looked at the mark. It was definitely the same one Observer Alpha had left on her.

XXX

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A/N: Phew, another chapter down! And you wouldn't guess what I would like to say about this. What? That 'this was super fun to write and one of the better ones'? Good guess but only partially true. I don't think this is one of the better ones but the interaction between Observer A and Rear-Admiral Reed was super fun to write.

I'm surprised I have managed to write this far. In the beginning I honestly thought that I'd write like two or three chapters and call it quits after that, but I really am surprised that I have written now over 50k words! And I'm really surprised if you have tortured yourself and read this far into the story, I can only say Thank you! I honestly thought only a couple of you would check this out and leave it there, but I was pleasantly surprised.

And thank you for your reviews! They mean a lot to me even though I'm really bad at answering to them.

Like every time reviews are very much appreciated no matter what ya want to say!

See ya hopefully next time. Some Dood out.