Chapter 27: The Heretic

They made her kneel on the floor with her hands tied behind her back.

Every molecule in her membrane ached with pain, and she could feel her face swollen from the abuse she got during her torture. Her vision blurred from tears mixed with red cytoplasm, and every time she tried to focus her eyes, a spike of screeching agony shot up into her nucleus.

How long had they kept her here in this closed and darkened room?

An hour? A day? Two?

How many of her captors were inside?

She could see six of her opponents surrounding her in a circle. However, the sole illumination inside the room fell only on her, and the rest stayed precisely at the light's edge, making their presence as unmoving silhouettes.

It didn't really matter now. She had no illusion of ever leaving this room alive.

One of the silhouetted figures stepped into the light and knelt before her. Her captor wore the white maid uniform of a macrophage and a large bonnet hat that covered a part of her short caramel-brown hair.

Even with her eyes swollen enough that she couldn't focus properly, she still recognized the face of the captor in front of her.

"E-Em…" she croaked, barely audible.

"Phi," her captor greeted her by way of a bow.

"You're… corrupted…" the battered macrophage said. It was not a question.

The first apprentice of Lady Macrophage smiled as she focused her crimson eyes on hers.

"Even now you still deny the tenets of Fate that the Consciousness and of our master adheres to," Lady Em cooed. "Those I visited in their death throes called me various names, but each and every one of them did not fail to call me a traitor."

Then, the first apprentice leaned closer to glare at her captive. "And yet here you are stating the obvious but never calling me a traitor. Why is that? Is it because to call me as such implies I have a choice to remain in the light or not? And with the faculties to make choices also implies I have the ability to choose my fate?"

"F-Fate is n-not real…" Lady Phi replied with added strain in her voice.

"A horrible proposition," Lady Em feigned shock. "It still baffles me even now why you would harbor such assertions. Fate is a journey in search of one's purpose in life. Do you not desire for a purpose in life?"

"W-We are cells… We are not the s-same as the C-Consciousness," Lady Phi retorted back. She could feel a sharp pain piercing through her head every time she forced herself to speak. "Our p-purpose is hay-wired into our n-nucleus… It is not something we are supposed t-to choose or to p-pursue."

Lady Em finally averted her gaze.

"A shame really," the first apprentice shook her head, her expression turned crestfallen with disappointment. "And here I was hoping for you to see sense that our actions and choices are in accordance with our fates."

"You n-never had a choice..." the battered macrophage countered. "O-Once you were i-infected, you were already c-corrupted."

"I had a choice!" Lady snapped. She bared her teeth in a snarl as she stood up to loom over her captive. "I always had! In the crucial seconds that I struggled with the virus infecting me, I had the choice to commit apoptosis or not!"

Apoptosis or cellular suicide. Once a cell was compromised or injured by external factors, it can perform the ritual of self-termination to prevent a contagion or a defect from within to affect the rest of the world. Apoptosis on a mass scale could also happen once the proper codes were given to the condemned cells.

Aside from the other various roles performed by macrophages, they also have the sacred role of giving proper disposals to cells that have committed apoptosis for the greater good.

"It was not through the machinations of the virus that I got infected, it was through my choice!" the first apprentice shrieked, almost bordering on the hysterical. "At first, I resisted, I admit, but in the end, I allowed the virus to insert its RNA into me while still having the faculties to slit my throat!"

Then she knelt back to face once more her kneeling captive.

"I am no slave, do you hear me, you wretched worm?" her voice low, almost like a growl. "I am the master of my fate!"

"Your choice…" Lady Phi started, her voice hoarse and on the verge of cracking. "Is an illusion…"

For a long moment, Lady Em did not respond. Both locked their gazes at each other, one was of fire and rage, the other resigned and spent.

Then, the first apprentice chuckled, which gradually became a burst of loud maniacal laughter.

"If that is your interpretation of what happened to me, then so be it." Lady Em showed her a smile bereft of any warmth. "We can agree to disagree. I am no tyrant, and so I shall respect your views. We could spend ages debating the metaphysical concept of fate and still not come into an agreement."

Then with a gesture that only an infected cell could perform, Lady Em opened her mouth wide as a creature of nightmares began crawling out.

The abomination then skittered its way with its spindly legs into the first apprentice's left hand.

"When I got infected, I viewed it as an integral factor for my fate," the first apprentice mused. "But for a heretic like you, Phi, this is simply the natural occurrence of a deterministic reality."

Lady Phi stared at the thing that just crawled out from the first apprentice's mouth then into her eyes, which now burned with cold fury.

Finally, the battered macrophage bowed her head and waited for her corruption.

-0-0-0-

NK shifted her footing and deftly evaded a massive lightning maul to the face.

She spun around before slashing Libertas at the pale-face maid.

With such a heavy weapon, the infected macrophage should not be able to swing it around as easily as a sword. By all projections, NK should have landed a straight slash at the maid's exposed neck, ending her last obstacle blocking her from the command center.

However, with a feat exceeding beyond comprehension, the infected macrophage yanked back her massive blunt weapon just in time to block Libertas from decapitating her neck.

Blade struck maul instead of soft membrane.

The huntress cell muttered a curse under her breath.

With NK's counterattack thwarted, the infected macrophage renewed her assault, swinging, and circling her maul at blurring speed.

The huntress cell ducked, spun and jumped just to avoid getting hit. There was no use blocking such a huge blunt weapon with her blade and risk getting obliterated. One hit was all it took, and no armor or deflection from Libertas would save her from a direct smash.

She somersaulted a couple of steps back just in time to evade the crushing impact of the giant maul.

NK landed in a crouch position far enough for her to catch her breath. The maid began lifting her weapon with her right hand as if it weighed nothing more than a platelet.

NK snarled with frustration. She could already see the entrance to the command center, and still, this insane macrophage blocked her.

After sliding down on a zip line to the training ground with Memory T cell, she immediately sprinted into the Thymus Headquarters to secure Helper T and the command center. She slew all infected cells in her path, showing them no quarter or mercy. Her rage and desire to atone for her past failure drove her on with haste, leaving her partner to play catch up and finish off any enemy that would refuse to die.

Now only one opponent remained to stand in her way from the command center only a few micrometers away from her.

The pale-faced maid rested the head of her maul on her shoulder as if it weighed nothing.

NK narrowed her eyes. Her opponent was definitely no ordinary macrophage.

"So, are you just going to stand there and do nothing?" NK taunted with a snide grin. "You must be tired carrying that stupid hammer of yours."

The infected macrophage made no attempt to make a reply. She remained motionless without even any hint of being exhausted from carrying her heavy weapon.

NK stood up and swayed her head from side to side until she heard a popping sound coming from her neck.

"You know," she started, continuing to do stretching and cracking of her knuckles. "For a bunch of maids who love to talk about fates, you change yours the instant you have the chance. Hypocrite much?"

The infected macrophage shook her head.

"I don't believe in fate."

NK blinked and had to do a double-take on what her opponent just said. "Say what now?"

"I don't believe in fate." The battle maid repeated.

"Uh, you are one of the ten apprentice generals of Lady Macrophage, right?" NK asked, visibly confused.

"That is correct," the infected macrophage bowed her head as she performed a curtsy. "My name is Lady Phi, the sixth apprentice general of Lady Macrophage."

"And you're telling me you don't follow all that mumbo jumbo talk about fate?"

"I do not subscribe to the teachings of Lady Macrophage as Lady Em does," Lady Phi replied, her face neutral and expressionless. "We are but one in a trillion of cells in this world. Talks of fate mean nothing to me, nor does it have any practical use within our lives."

NK's grin widened further with amusement. "Well, at least, there's two of us who don't believe in all that nonsense."

Just then, she heard the sound of heavy footfalls running at a fast pace behind her.

"NK!" The newcomer called her out.

"Yeah?" The huntress responded without looking back at her approaching partner. "What took you so long?"

MT cell stood beside her, panting to catch his breath.

NK stole a quick glance at her partner and saw him drenched with cytoplasm and grime. In his left hand, he carried his chainblade, a nasty-looking weapon with sharp rows of teeth running down on one side.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," the burly Memory T Cell whispered under his breath. "Who's the maid?"

NK ignored him, though she felt relieved he had finally caught up with her. Fighting the sixth apprentice of Lady Macrophage alone was already hard enough, perhaps a companion at her side would increase her odds of winning.

"Ready for round two?" NK hollered as she proceeded to an attack stance. Her burly partner also readied himself for another battle.

On the other hand, their opponent stood unmoving like a statue. To the uninitiated, she appeared completely off-guard and wide open for attacks. The two immune cells, however, knew not to underestimate this pale-faced maid.

"In the count of three," NK whispered to her partner.

MT nodded and proceeded to tighten his grip on his chainblade.

"One… Two…"

The sounds of a furious battle echoed from the entrance of the Command Center, followed by the sound of deranged laughter.

For just a fraction of a second, NK's concentration faltered, and her eyes twitched to look at the entrance of the Command Center.

That was all Lady Phi needed to make her move.

The sixth apprentice blurred for an instant and then appeared right in front of the huntress cell.

NK clenched her teeth at the sudden attack. She slashed her blade straight at the battle maid, but Lady Phi countered it with a mighty swing of her maul. This left NK wide open, and her opponent lunged her free hand at her exposed neck, grabbing her with a chokehold.

The battle maid then spun around to block a descending chain blade aimed straight at her head.

MT's weapon roared. Rows of sharp chain-teeth screeched on Lady Phi's massive maul.

NK let out a gurgling sound as she grabbed her opponent's outstretched arm with hers. Her feet struggled to find purchase, but Lady Phi raised her up just a microinch above the ground.

The pressure on her throat was immense. Signals of pain shot up into her nucleus, and it took all her willpower just to remain focused on the enemy.

Then she realized her other hand still held Libertas.

"Stand down, Miss NK," the battle maid requested. Her emotionless eyes stared into the huntress cell's own. "Sheath your blade for now. I may lose an arm, but you will lose your neck."

As if to put an emphasis on her request, she squeezed her hand, wrapping around NK's throat.

Lady Phi then turned to look at Memory T Cell.

"Stand down as well, Lieutenant," she reiterated even as MT pushed his chainblade further on her maul. "If you wish to enter the Command Center, you need to stand down."

"Your words mean nothing, oath-breaker!" MT snarled.

It was only for a moment, but one of Lady Phi's brows twitched at hearing the insult.

"Dendritic is inside," the battle maid revealed, ignoring MT's barb. "If you continue to fight me, you will forfeit your only chance to stop him."

As a gesture of her sincerity, she released her grip on NK's throat, dropping the huntress cell down, panting and gasping for air.

Seeing his partner no longer getting choked at, MT switched off his chain blade and took a step back.

"Why?" asked the burly Memory T Cell, still keeping his poise to strike the second he detected treachery.

NK, for her part, staggered back to her feet. She wrapped her free hand on her neck to massage away the pain.

Lady Phi once again rested the head of her maul on top of her shoulder.

"As I said to Miss NK, I do not believe in fate." Lady Phi reiterated. "There are no master plans for us to follow. Our own impulses drive us, nothing more, nothing less."

"My impulse tells me to slit your throat right here, right now," NK growled as she tightened her grip on her blade.

"As it should be, for it is in your nature to do so, not because of some higher reasons like fate," the battle maid said, as a matter of fact, ignoring the deadly glare the huntress cell was giving her. "I would like to remind Em of that fact."

"What?"

"The success of Dendritic cell here is integral to Em's plan," Lady Phi further explained. "I would like for that plan not to succeed."

"You will let us through to spite the Archtraitor?" NK said carefully. "Isn't that going against your nature?"

Lady Phi shook her head as she pointed at the virus perched on top of her head. "I seemed to be a mutation of sorts. I am not entirely sure, but I'm not exactly the same as with Em, which could explain why I still harbor my loathing for her even after getting corrupted."

NK's eyes focused on the virus on top of Lady Phi's head and realized she was telling the truth. The virus looked almost like any of those nightmarish creatures perched on all infected cells except for some subtle variation. It had far fewer spikes, a shorter chitinous tail, and its hide was a color of dark blue instead of the typical red and black.

The sound of battle inside the Command Center grew in volume and frequency. She can't waste any more of her time talking to this anomaly.

"I will still hunt you down," NK pointed her sword at the battle maid. "That's a promise."

Without waiting for an answer, NK sprinted towards the Command Center. MT hesitated for a second, still glaring at the sixth apprentice for any sign of betrayal, before hurrying to catch up to his partner.

Lady Phi watched the two lymphocytes disappear inside the Command Center, her face passive and emotionless.

"Find me once you stop Dendritic cell," she muttered before walking towards the opposite direction.


A/N:

And here we finally see some glimpse of Lady Em's insanity.

We also finally get some explanation as to why the Macrophages tend to think getting infected is a 'choice'. They believe that since they could commit suicide before getting completely infected (via apoptosis), once they are infected, it's expected for them to end their lives or if they continue living, they'd be branded as traitors.

In addition, not all cells were given any chance to perform apoptosis. Those who were "killed", or severely wounded, and later infected by the macrophages can't kill themselves and they remain mindless like the lieutenant KT cell Lady Em fought outside of the liver.

Now some disclaimer, I haven't really seen any research papers or medical sites that say cells can commit apoptosis on their own if they're infected (NK cells can induce apoptosis to damaged/infected cells). However, I did see some sources saying cells can induce apoptosis by themselves if they're damaged (Source: biology-pages (d o t) info / A / Apoptosis (d o t) h t m l).

Anywho… We now see another of Lady Macrophages' apprentices, Lady Phi. Lady Phi is not actually part of this scene, but I find her very appropriate to be featured on this chapter. As she said, she's kind of different from Lady Em though she still is infected with the same virus albeit with a tiny bit of mutation.

I like Lady Phi, but just like her fellow macrophages, she tends to hold uncompromising views.

The next chapter should be exciting. XD

Stay safe everyone!


Revision History:

- Originally published on Apr. 19, 2020

- Minor update on 'the sound of battle'. Apr. 25, 2020