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The Reclaimer Legacy
By BrokenPoet12
Part 2
XX X X X
Unknown location
Planet Requiem
Year 2557
transmitting…
Open Report #12,094,430
Librarian Archives
Actions Required: Process, review and archive.
The construct was far more damaged than we had imagined. After infiltrating your husband's ship and forcing so many imperfect copies of herself into the system, there is little we can do. There is also evidence of massive data corruption, as well as an overall lack of integrity in anything recorded after 2525, Human years.
I am curious to see if your little experiment will work, but I will not hold out hope. She is damaged. And keeping her in such a state is a cruelty not befitting of the keepers of the Mantle. Even a construct should be allowed to die with dignity.
Still and all, my Life workers are well hidden and neither the Humans nor this Covenant shall unearth us soon. But I must ask, what is the point of this? What is the point in trying to help them when they themselves have unleashed something that none of us can hope to destroy.
There are those who will agree with the Diadact you know. You can be sure of that. Who are these weaklings to us? Why should they be allowed to rip the Mantle from our hands where it has been kept and maintained for eons with care and guidance?
And yet, there may be hope. I leave it to you my humble Master. And perhaps we shall find a way.
terminate
transmitting
Amendment to Open Report#12,094,430
Attach and code under Priority
You have always given me the benefit of your candor and I have always appreciated that you are still free mouthed and so readily able to speak your mind. I would remind you however that the task we are set upon now is far more vital than ever before and I will not allow it to be derailed. My husband gambled all for our civilization many times. He never allowed himself beat back, even when good sense should have prevailed. This was his vanity. This was the price he ultimately paid. Humility is a painful lesson after you have fallen.
What has begun now, we are responsible for as much as these Humans. We have held so tightly to our beliefs, been so blinded by what we have seen as right and good that we know of no other path. No other choice. And it has been this shining light that has illuminated our path to the grave.
All that we can claim anymore are shadows and ruins. We are not what we once were. And I fear we will never be again. Perhaps it is for the better. I do not claim to be completely complacent in our fates. No. However, I will not wage a violent and bitter fight against it, when we have no more right than these Humans.
The construct is in the fourth stage. She will be repaired. There is much damage and the data she held before may be useless, but that is not the sum of all she is. There is more to it and I seek it. Perhaps for me, in my selfish desire to survive whatever our fate is. But I seek it all the same. There is a role for her. And for the Warrior she loves. I can feel it. But even I cannot guess at it yet.
Do not fail me. We cannot afford it.
terminate
Darkness and pain. That was all she knew anymore. The irony of never knowing what sensation actually felt like, only to achieve it and be mocked with this bitter reward. She hurt. She was afraid, and she wanted only for it to end. But it never did. Every system, every nerve ending, every sensory receptor screamed. And through the agony she could do nothing but weep and be silent. Unable to voice anything in the void of pain and oblivion, she was trapped. Death would have been preferable. Rampancy less painful. Unaware of neither the passage of time nor her surroundings, she waited. Wracked in bitter agony and blackness.
It wasn't until she felt fire ripping through her center that she realized it was her ragged breathing. The air entering lungs never used before, new to everything, was caustic and painful. And it started and new wave of panic and fear in her. Her mind reeled. Another painful breath set fire to her again and she felt herself slipping. A ragged gasp escaped her lips and for the first time she was able to give a voice to her pain.
"Please…let me die."
There was no answer and the pain did nothing to relent. Opening her eyes, the woman was blinded by the harsh lighting above her. Tears streamed down her face, into her hair and she realized she was lying down. She could feel something firm beneath her. It was ice cold to her burning skin. The shock of being able to feel anything broke through the unending haze of pain. But it was only a momentary respite before every bit of sensation tore through her again like fire. It felt as if she was being torn apart from inside and out. Screaming out again, she tried to open her eyes but couldn't.
"Please! Help me or kill me. I cannot stand this anymore!"
Still no one came to her aid. Exhausted with the effort, the woman slumped to the table, blissfully unconscious. The tears continued streaming down her face, pooling and cascading over the edge of the table.
X
A lone figure watched. Every sharp intake of breath, every agonized movement from the woman on the table tore at him. With a bitter smile, he watched as she succumbed to unconsciousness and turned away. With a wave of his hand, the lights dimmed and he left the chamber.
"Open coms. Code Priority. You know where to send it." He spoke as he walked quickly down a long featureless hall. A soft beeping issued from his ear piece alerted him when his call was connected. The voice on the other end greeted him with bemusement.
"Yes?"
"She is awake. And she is suffering greatly. I cannot allow this to continue."
There is silence for a long minute and his steps trail to nothing. The hall is empty and silent around him. Finally, she speaks.
"We must continue or she will lose everything."
"You mean YOU will lo.."
"Do not pretend to know everything I am doing. I do not care how long you have been my faithful servant. You forget your place."
The silence was deadly. He swallowed hard, glad she was not there in front of him.
"Librarian…Master I am sorry. I forget myself."
"Your ability to care has been most endearing, even for the lesser species."
"I am only afraid of what we become by doing this to her. We are no better than the humans that ripped her from one of their minds, and then trapped her in a lifeless body. This transcendence is what she should have been given. Would have been given had we created her. But they treat them as nothing more than tools to be used and discarded. And now she is in agony."
His heart pounded as waited, unsure if she would rail at him again. With a soft sigh, the doors behind him slid open and before he could turn he felt a gentle pressure on his shoulder. Tensing, he drew in a deep breath before he turned. Her voice was soft, but strong and clear. Her eyes held him immobile while she fixed him with a sad smile.
"My Son, you are so like your father. So like the great warrior he was. So stubborn. So sure. And so ready to fight for what you believe. I ask that you believe in me. "
"But…"
"You must have faith. As we all do. There is much more at stake here than her life or yours or mine."
Chagrined, he averted his eyes and his shoulders dropped.
"I am sorry Mother. Forgive my error."
Smiling, the Librarian watched her son. Taking him gently by the arm, she steered him to the end of the hallway and out through the door there.
"She will survive. She must survive. And I have brought someone who can help her."
Curious, he looked up and stopped as the room was engulfed in bright light. Energy crackled and arced all over the room, but the Librarian and her son the Lifeshaper were not moved by it. With a sudden crack, a soft golden light filled the room. A hidden portal activated and through it appeared two Lifeworkers. Between them hovered a prone figure, elevated by an anti-gravity lift and following closely behind them. The figure was encased in badly scared green armor.
"Why has he been brought here?" Lifeshaper whispered?
The Librarian did not answer for a long moment, waiting instead for the Lifeworkers to approach and halt before her. With a gentle motion, she let her hand rest against the chest plate of the armor, just above the location of the heart. Beneath her fingertips the iridescent armor was rough with old battle damage. The three numbers still stood out proudly though, and she smiled to herself as she read them. Withdrawing her hand, she nodded and the Lifeworkers continued through the doorway.
"Because she is lost, but so is he. And they will need each other in the days and months to come."
Nodding to her son, she turned away and began to walk back through the doorway. Pausing once more she turned and gave him a sad smile.
"And perhaps in these two, I see a chance for redemption. Both from your Father's sins. And from mine."
X
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