"'It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents -- except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.'"
"Ow. Ow. Just... ow."
"Yup."
"That sentence should be taken out and shot."
"That's the original, the one that started the whole thing."
"...What 'whole thing' and before you answer that, do I really want to know?"
"No. But I'll tell you anyways so I don't have to suffer alone. It spawned a bad-writing contest. It's still going on in some colleges."
"Oh nass..."
"Listen, listen, you're gonna like this one. Remember how you were always complaining about Triad's cheesy romance novels?"
"And Vi's cheesy soap operas and Imra's and Spark's cheesy chick-flicks - yes. Unfortunately. You reminded me of that, why?"
"'They had but one last remaining night together, so they embraced each other as tightly as that two-flavor entwined string cheese that is orange and yellowish-white, the orange probably being a bland Cheddar and the white... Mozzarella, although it could possibly be Provolone or just plain American, as it really doesn't taste distinctly dissimilar from the orange, yet they would have you believe it does by coloring it differently.'"
"Oh my gods...!"
"Now that's cheese!"
"Brainiac, why are you reading this?"
Brainiac 5 smirked. He was sitting in a crowded spaceport, having decided on the 'safety in numbers' principle. Although the presence of people wouldn't stop his mother from acting, if she found him, the volume of pedestrian traffic might slow her down. "I was just taking a break. I've been cracking the Coluan databases, trying to find any information on my mother. I was starting to lose focus so I decided to refresh myself with some utterly moronic light entertainment. Then I was interrupted by a flying nun."
"This is 'light entertainment'? What are you, a masochist?" Sister Andromeda laughed.
"I keep hanging out with Lyle, don't I?" Querl grinned back, "Anyways. I assume you're the 'back-up' Cos sent?"
"You assume correctly. My brawn, your brain, the two together ought to be your best bet for outwitting her."
"Can't argue with that. You're even good company."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." They laughed, then Laurel got serious, "You've been looking for stuff about your mother for years; think you'll find anything now?"
"Did you ever know about Sharn Nux?"
Laurel frowned, "Hmmm... possibly.. Remind me."
"Anti-AI fanatic, tried to kill me once."
"That would explain why he doesn't stand out..."
"Har har. And it's 'she.' The significant point here being, she was the mate that the Council had lined up for me. Stop looking at me like that."
"No, no, it's the arranged marriage angle, honestly. I have a problem with those."
"We liked each other even less, and of course, after she tried to kill me, the whole deal was off. Like it was ever 'on' to begin with." Querl sneered then shook his head, "Anyways, when we first met, she was shocked. She said something about 'it wasn't humiliation enough that her family was in disgrace without marrying her to it as well.'"
Laurel tilted her head, "Hah? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Something I myself have wondered for years," Querl nodded, "But never really investigated. Even if I had, I doubt I would have recognised what I was finding." He steepled his fingers and thought for a moment, "No, I'll start with Doctor Regulus's reports. He had three different telepaths explore my mother. Independently and unanimously, they all found that my mother's childhood memories were missing. Only, they weren't."
"Huh?"
"There are memories of education, but nothing beyond that. No faces, no people, no sensations, nothing. No experiences at all - just blackness."
"It's just blank?"
"Not blank, but black. That point was distinguished."
"Okay. So what's the connection to Sharn Nux?"
"It seems the House of Nux had been involved with a faction that sought to increase Coluan intellect with the suppression of emotion. They felt that if the emotive irrationality were removed, pure logic would remain."
"That sounds like... what's that 20th Century program that Rond and Lyle were watching..."
"'Star Trek,' yes. Mr. Spock."
"Yeah, that's it."
"Actually, I believe that is exactly the state that this faction were striving for. I couldn't find any official records of the group or their experiments. What I did find were personal notes and communications, from several individuals." Querl leaned forward and propped his elbows on the tabletop, warming to his subject, "Self-discipline wasn't sufficient. These people appear to have believed that it could be done if the subject were removed from all emotion-inducing stimuli, such as in an isolation tank."
"That wouldn't work. That's a known recipe for driving someone insane. Not even a Coluan mind can stand that kind of treatment."
"I know. These people hypothesised that an infant raised in isolation would know no different and therefore be stable in the tank environment. Such an infant would grow into an adult of perfect rationality." Sister Andromeda's face was a picture of disgust. Querl nodded, "And if I'm understanding correctly, they actually tried it."
Laurel looked sick, then the penny dropped. "Oh my gods..! You mean, you think it was your mother?!"
"Their notes talk about the apparent success of 'the project,'" he mimed quotes, "Then later they talk about its failure. They talk about how the test subject had seemed so promising and were stymied as to how it could have gone so horribly wrong. Now, given what they were trying to do, and given what my mother's problems are... If she were raised in an isolation tank, her memories would be black."
"Oh gods...! Brainiac, that is sick!"
"Hey, it wasn't my idea!"
"Yeah, not even you are that heartless."
Querl's face turned to stone. "That's not funny, Laurel."
She was immediately contrite, "I'm sorry, that was over the line. I know how heartless you are. NOT VERY," she seized his hand as he started to storm off. "Grife, I'm just channeling you today, aren't I. I'm sorry, Brainiac."
He sat down again, mollified by the jab at his legendary ability to say the wrong thing even when he wasn't trying. "I suppose even you can have an off day," he grumped. He found it difficult to stay angry with Laurel for long. For one thing, she was the only one who'd complied, when he'd said not to call him "Brainy."
"There's one thing I don't get," she said, "I thought you said that the Brainiacs were under the control of the Council?"
"Pretty much," he said guardedly, given that the Council had kicked him off Colu and therefore technically out of their jurisdiction.
"So how could they do that kind of extreme experimentation on Brainiac 4 without the Council knowing about it? Unless.. Oh gods!"
"I like you, you answer your own stupid questions."
Laurel reached across the table and thumped him, "Nasshat! ...oh, get up off the floor, I know you're faking."
He slid back into his seat, brushing off his thighs, "Now we're even."
"Okay."
"To answer your stupid question further, yes, the possibility that such experiments could be hidden from the Council existed but was very slim, given the amount of meddling I mean involvement that the Council takes in the Dox lineage personal lives." Laurel grinned widely at that. "The possibility that the Council knew about and possibily even endorsed the project was disquieting but frankly, a heck of a lot more likely."
"And you found a connection."
"Okay, you just made up for the stupid question by anticipative reasoning. My faith is restored. Yes, I found a couple of connections. I couldn't get any names, but I did find enough evidence to convince me that the Council knew full well what was being done to my mother."
"That's just monstrous! That's a known recipe for driving someone insane, how could they think that she wouldn't grow into what she became?!"
"They must have thought that our 12th Level intellect could handle being deprived of emotive function. But I know from personal experience - we can't."
Laurel chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "If she were raised in isolation, she wouldn't have developed any sense of empathy with others. She wouldn't be able to connect with their pain. Being deprived of emotions, she wouldn't have any pain to connect with anyways. It'd all be un-real to her."
"My mother did a lot of good during the course of her quest, but once she found a successful stimulus, of course she would seek repetition."
Laurel looked up and shook her head, "I don't think there's any possibility that she wouldn't have become what she is or done what she did."
"And if the Council was behind it, they share a lot of the responsibility for what she did," Querl nodded. He pushed his hands through his hair and sighed, "Something's rotten in the Council of the Revolt."
Laurel sighed too, then stood up, "Back in a few. Nature calls."
"And never leaves a message," he nodded. He stretched then went back to his reading. A few minutes later, his comm chirped. He scowled, "Cos, this is an open frequency!"
"Brainy! You bugged out just in time. She tore right through us, she's on your trail. You've got to get moving!"
"Oh grife, but why did you..." A flash of light distracted him and he broke off, staring.
"She's teleporting! She hacked into the computer somehow and went viral or something and sprockin' near destroyed Gear! She found our communications and cracked the encryptions. Brainy, she broke your encryptions! It doesn't matter if this is an open channel, she's coming for you!"
"No, Cos," Querl said numbly, "She's here."
Rokk's voice faded into the wordless din. His mother vanished then reappeared right in front of him. Andromeda's scream and the sonic boom of her Mach-1 speed were drowned out by the sound of his heart pounding in his ears as Brainiac 4 reached for him with her glowing palm.
"Oh, spro----"