Initializing…
07/06/2150 21:18:03 EST
RUN_A.L.I.E. CORE OS
ALERT_MAIN SENRTY_DIAGNOSTIC(EXTERNAL(SUBROUTINE))
OPEN_LiveExperiment
Experiment File FA1874369-48 – New Data Found
Subject appears to have established link with nano-enhancers…
NOTABLE OBSERVATIONS:
Increased size and stature
Increased bone density
Increased conscious control of metabolic functions
Sizeable development in overall musculature
Significant increase in blood flow around occipital lobe
30% increase in efficiency of cardiovascular system
Increased durability of cardiovascular system (NOTE: Possibly in order to handle increased strain to capillaries and vessels around sensory organs)
Reinforced dermal layer
98% Reduction in waste (See project FA0047329-95 for further details)
White and red blood cell count increased by 87.342%
200% increase in efficiency and creation of various neural pathways
OBSERVABLE SIDE-EFFECTS:
Subject has experienced unforeseen bout of melanism in both skin and hair
Subject has been rendered infertile, possibly due to changing immune system rejecting foreign genetic material. As a result, Subject has shown signs of imprinting as a possible coping mechanism. This may be connected to increased hostility towards perceived threats.
ALERT_MAINSENTRY_DIAGNOSTIC(EXTERNAL(SUROUTINE))
OPEN_LiveExperiment
Experiment File FA8342790-01 – New Data Found
Despite lack of reaction to atmospheric enhancers, prolonged contact with Subject FA1874369-48 has provided entry into bloodstream through open wound.
Enhancements are slow to develop, as priority has been assigned to counteracting any possible rejection. Recommend continued proximity to FA1874369-48 as well as CORE OS to ensure establishment of neural network and shared processing functions.
OBSERVATIONS:
Subject is experiencing significant enhancements in all areas as stated before. However, Subject's improvements are still within normal human expectations at current time. Recommend extended proximity to CORE OS to expedite process while sharing benefits with current housing station.
Subject is prone to extreme emotional imbalances, most likely related to past trauma. Recommend remote activation of necessary hormones to assist in psychiatric care before formation of secondary housing station.
CONCLUSION:
Experiment is ahead of schedule. Early projections show no signs of rejection. Subject has willingness to fight cultural norms that impede current housing station from completing duties. Local mythology suggests Prototype has already begun using psychological conditioning to attract those more easily manipulated. No current interference is recommended. Maintain priority surveillance of updated experiments. Prioritize research into issues with fertility (NEW_PROJECT: FA1874369-49) Housing unit will maintain current directive.
*(OoO)*
Lexa opened her eyes and took a deep breath. As always, interpreting the wisdom of the Commanders of the past was difficult to say the least. Releasing the air from her lungs, she stood and walked over to the window of her of the massive lounge in her private quarters and looked down at the city sprawling below.
"Well?" Clarke asked, not looking up from the book she was reading, curled up against the Forest Mother's side near the crackling fire that was the sole source of light in the room now that the sun had set. "Did the other Commanders have anything to say?"
Lexa smiled and watched the people moving about like hundreds of tiny ants. She knew that Clarke, like the others who came from the sky, held little stock in the wisdom of spirits. The difference, however, was that she wasn't judgemental in the slightest. Her tone when she asked held only genuine curiosity.
"There's a surprising lack of skepticism in your tone."
"My best friend is a giant bear. Who am I to judge?"
Lexa laughed quietly and turned around to see Clarke nuzzling her face into the Forest Mother's neck. "It was vague," she said after a moment, drawing the attention of two sets of blue eyes that were far too similar for members of different species. "I was given the impression that we should be staying the course. The problem is, I don't know what that course is."
Clarke hummed and quietly turned the page of her book, making Lexa scowl playfully as she watched the firelight dance across her features, adding an ethereal element to Clarke's normally radiant appearance. "What do you think you should do?" She asked.
"I think I should toss most of those ambassadors from the highest balcony of this tower," Lexa grumbled. "But seeing as we've agreed that senseless murder is not the way to strengthen my Coalition, I'm asking you for your thoughts on the matter."
She watched as Clarke shifted slightly to hide her discomfort with being thrust back into being responsible for so many people's lives. Walking over, she placed a hand on Clarke's shoulder and smiled when shining sapphires finally looked up at her.
"I just want to hear your opinion, Clarke," she reassured. "You have a cunning mind and a kind heart, and I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on the matter."
"You won't like it," Clarke murmured, looking away in shame.
"I still want to hear it," Lexa insisted softly.
Taking a deep breath, Clarke focussed on the nearby fire as her expression hardened and she was slowly replaced by the mask of Wanheda. "If you really want to know how to gain control of the Coalition, you need the backing of its people. They need to see their own leaders as nothing more than people who are carrying out your own orders. They need to see you as someone who cares for them and knows what they need almost before they do."
"Go on," Lexa prompted when Clarke paused to take a breath.
"First thing you're going to need are spies. People who are willing to lie to their leaders and pretend to be to be loyal while reporting to you on what's really going on within the clans, not just the abridged versions you get in your reports from the ambassadors."
"How am I supposed to trust people whose one job is to betray others?" Lexa asked.
"If they've been bribed, or threatened, then you shouldn't," Clarke replied. "What I'm suggesting is you finding a group of people who are unwavering in their loyalty, not just to Heda and the Coalition, but to you, Lexa, as well. Who aren't just willing to fight and die for you, but who put you and what you fight for above everything else. Who are willing to become someone's best friend and confidante on your orders one day, and poison that person's food the next with only a word from you. Someone whose goals align with your own, and care enough for their clan that they are willing to betray its secrets to the you for the greater good."
Lexa frowned in displeasure as she considered what Clarke was suggesting. Everything about who she was railed against what she was hearing, and yet, she couldn't deny the tactical advantage that would come from knowing exactly what was going on in the halls of the other clan leaders.
"You were right," she said after a moment of silence. "I don't like what you are suggesting." Clarke chuckled humorlessly, shaking her head as she stared into the fire. Lexa could tell that she felt disgusted with herself for coming up with such an idea. "That being said, I cannot deny that you make a good point. Having a reliable source of information within the Coalition would help me to make informed decisions on how to best win the loyalty of the people."
"You would also need someone whom you trusted above all others to manage your spies," Clarke continued. "If word got out that Heda was doing something as dishonourable as using spies and assassins, especially against those you're supposed to be allied with, it would only make the Clans hate you and stop trusting you, while the people would start living in fear. This person would be the one the spies reported to, and they would be tasked with sorting through the information and providing it to you."
"Are you offering?" Lexa asked, eyebrow raised.
"Me?" Clarke repeated, confusion flashing across her face. "What? Lexa, no! I couldn't do it. Setting aside the fact that pretty much everyone truly loyal to you wants nothing more than to kill me, I'm definitely not qualified to hold that kind of position!"
"That is where you are wrong, Fisa Klark," a voice said as Baldur appeared from nowhere. Startled by his sudden appearance, Lexa sprang to her feet and drew her sword, only for it to be quickly parried by Wanheda. Drawing his own blade, Baldur sank to his knees and held it up with both hands between the two of them. "I, Baldur, swear my fealty to you, Skai Prisa. I would dedicate my skills to roam the Coalition like keryon in the night, and learn the secrets of its people so that you and ai Heda may maintain peace and protect those who cannot protect themselves."
Clarke was clearly stunned as she gaped at the man kneeling before them, and Lexa smiled as she turned to face her. "Baldur is right, Clarke. Should we follow through with forming this group of shadows in the night, you are the only one I can think of with the will to do what needs to be done, and the kindness to keep from becoming cruel and cold-hearted. Your reputation, both as Wanheda and an accomplished healer would grant you the freedom to come and go most places – particularly if it's known that you have my approval – and your close bond with Trimani Nomon, matron spirit of my clan, will lend credence to suggestions that some would see as blasphemous."
"I don't know, Lexa," Clarke muttered. Lexa could see the fear in her eyes and reached out to wrap her arms around her waist, pulling her close before reaching up and tucking her head down into her shoulder.
"There is no one I trust more than you, ai Klark," she whispered into Clarke's hair. "Ever since we met, all you have ever done has been in the name of peace and helping those who need it. You alone, understand the burden of true leadership in times where there are no right answers. It tears at my soul to ask you to immerse yourself once more in the pain of such a role, but know that this time, you will not be alone. I will be there next to you every step of the way, prepared to shoulder your burdens whenever you find yourself stumbling under its weight. Beja, Klark, our world is on the brink of tearing itself apart. I need you."
Clarke trembled in Lexa's arms, quietly crying as she struggled against the ghosts of her past. Lexa continued to hold her and stroke her hair and back, waiting for her to calm down. She knew it wasn't fair to ask Clarke to assume yet another leadership role – especially one that promised nothing but lies and knives in the dark – but there truly was no one else Lexa knew of who could reliably fill the role. With the revelation that even her closest advisor had his own personal agenda, Clarke was the only one Lexa saw as an equal that was not a threat. The entire idea of having a network of spies alone was enough to make the honourable warrior in Lexa shiver in distaste, which said nothing of how she would eel when actions that Lexa truly abhorred had to be taken. True, she had made questionable choices in the name of securing peace, but those were made during war, and she always treated her opponents with dignity and respect as was demanded by their culture. Clarke wasn't bound by those same ingrained teachings, and would therefore be able to do what needed to be done and moving behind Lexa's back without her having to fear of a knife being slipped between her ribs.
"Okay," Clarke whispered, and Lexa had to grit her teeth to keep from taking back what she had said at the tone of defeat and self-loathing in that one word. "I'll do it. For peace."
"For peace," Lexa repeated as she held Clarke closer for a moment more. When they finally separated, Wanheda's face was resolute as she took the sword from Baldur and handed it back to him, handle first.
"Thank you, Baldur. You are truly a great friend."
"Fisa," Lexa's eyes widened as one by one all of the former reapers Clarke lived with emerged from the shadows all around the room. It astounded her that in the few months since meeting Clarke, those whom their society had written off due to the memory of their actions under the control of another, had grown to the point where all of them could sneak into what was arguably the most defended place in the entire Coalition. They truly had become what Baldur swore to be: ghosts, who could glide through the land of the living, and answered only to the Commander of Death herself. Each of them kneeled before Clarke, and Lexa could see her struggling to hold back tears as they swore their fealty to their goal of peace.
*(OoO)*
The next day, Clarke fought down her own sadness as she looked around the nearly abandoned warehouse and hoisted her own bag over her shoulder.
After swearing themselves to her, all of Clarke's friends had once more disappeared. After speaking with Lexa for a while longer about their next move, she left and informed the others from Arkadia that she and Lexa would be leaving Polis for an indeterminate amount of time to visit the other clans. Marcus was gracious in his acceptance of her invitation to join them and prove to the Coalition that not all Sky People were bad. A warning had been sent to Indra to ensure she kept a wary eye on Skaikru while Clarke sent two of her newly dubbed Keryon Gona to Mount Weather and each of the twelve clans to begin work on getting an idea of what was going on in each while Baldur, Taiga, Isole, and Graham stayed with Clarke and Lexa. Already, the familiar feeling of worry was gnawing at Clarke's heart, but she fought it down as she reminded herself that these were the people who taught her how to fight, and she was confident enough in her skill to deal with most enemies barring Lexa and a few others.
Hopping on Juno's back, they rode out to meat Lexa and the others just outside Polis's walls. Lexa rode on a powerful stallion who stood a bit shorter than Juno at the shoulder and was remarkably calm standing not five feet from the massive predator. She and Lexa were the only ones who rode atop their respective animals, however, as they were in no rush, and actually planned on taking their time, meeting people along the way. It was merely so as to project the image of them being above others while equal with each other. The only other one who wasn't walking was Raven, as Clarke had all but thrown her onto some cushions she had placed in one of the wagons they brought with them. Ignoring Raven's protestations, Clarke ordered O and L to use any means necessary to ensure Raven stayed off her bad leg while traveling, prompting a devilish smile from the former while L merely nodded his head with an exasperated look towards his lover.
She could already hear Raven and O arguing as they began to be on their way, and she allowed herself to smile.
"Why do you refuse to allow her to walk with us?" Lexa asked.
"She has a bad leg," Clarke explained. "I'm not going to have her strain herself trying to prove she's just as capable of walking as the rest of us."
"So, what exactly is the purpose of this excursion?" Marcus asked after about three hours of walking.
"We're going to check in on the clans, and see what we can do for them," Clarke replied. "See what they what we can provide them that doesn't involve military forces."
"I see," Marcus said. "I look forward to learning more about your people, Commander."
"As do I, Marcus of the Sky," Lexa answered cryptically, her cool gaze never leaving the path ahead of them.
