Chapter 13 - Broken
He sat placidly before the dark screens and Vainly attempted to blot the implications of the strange creature from his mind. The entire room was flooded with an unbearable silence. Everyone's minds were full of thoughts of things to come and what might come.
He turned and glanced at the strangely pale form of Lupus. Still recovering from the Being telepathically battered and thrust from an active control his eyes had lost their usual luster. As he watched Lupus a strange shudder rippled down his shoulders before resounding lower down his back, He twisted and shook for a second before standing altogether.
A Cognit rushed into the room as he stretched and yelled.
"The Barge!" The room bristled in anticipation and worry.
Lupus turned his luster still lacking but life returned to his voice.
"It blew up right?" He gave a weak chuckle.
"No, It's due north five hundred meters and closing.
With a subdued air the group looked at him. He looked around,
"We would be poor hosts if we didn't give them a warm welcoming, huh?" He reached over and pressed a series of buttons and started for the stairs. Swishing of pistons clouding the air.
-
He rested his upper appendage lightly on his head and tottered through the hallways in a foggy daze. Another image smashed through his head obliterating reality and casting him out till he crashed against a wall. He stood as a tremor shook his body and his ducts flooded, causing him to lose sight of the hall.
From the darkness came a brilliant light
that blinded him. He rocked backwards in pain and let loose a shrill cry. His whole dim world was smashed to bleeding splinters by the horrid light. His eyes exploded in pain as the bright light scorched them and he cried out in pain.
He felt the acid flush over his eyes and a sob of relief echoed as the light was drained away and reality affixed in its place. He picked himself up and refused to stare at the crowd of Spiders staring at him, Their shells strangely glistening in the light.
"We Know Your Weaknesses!"
A voice sounded through his skull.
"We Are Rulixe!"
A myriad of voices rang.
He opened his eyes and stared at the group of spiders,
"You aren't Cognit!" He Whispered in a dazed sense of horror. "You are Rulixe."
The Crowd froze in surprise and stepped backwards. For the first time since his arrival thoughts flowed from everywhere and smashed through him. He felt speared to the wall behind him and breathing seemed to grow harder with each tremulous gasp.
He folded backwards as he felt his ducts flood and the light return. The light encompassed him. It knew him, and it knew how to hurt him. He cried out in desperation as the light grew more intense.
Voices crowded through his head and asked him about everything; his life, his exile, his plans. He was in such pain that he told them everything. They drained him dry, leaving him no secrets and little life.
The acid flooded again and he looked out at the hallway. A plug seemed to have been pulled and the hallway was draining out. An Age-Mate appeared out of the corner of his eye and approached him. Shakily, he started to pull himself to a standing position.
He started to slip and a pair of appendages caught him and he looked up into friendly eyes.
"Everyone breaks, Its a surprise it took you this long." He refused to meet Shiloh's eyes as she helped him up.
"I am not supposed to break. I can't."
-
They stood at the summit of the tower and watched the mammon-thine Barge float menacingly through the sky like a foreboding dark cloud. Its metallic edges shimmered and distorted giving off faint reflections giving a twisted and muddled collage of sky and ground.
They watched as it veered off cutting seamlessly around the broad mycelium barriers. He smiled as it continued on.
"To smart to go over our cannons."
Several Cognit Engineers had been with the group when they fled the city. And with the bodily aid of Lupus and Himself They had supervised the construction of Large high-powered TNT Cannons designed to barrage Ships from below.
According to some of the calculations, The ship before them would take no longer than a minute at normal speed. At high They would barely notice that there had been a ship. The Mycelium barrier itself seemed to be their best protection.
More than once they had found a steaming corpse or two steaming in acid halfway across. Whether trying to leave or to get in, they usually didn't know. Spies in a sense were impossible as there was no way out, unless by Glider and only Lupus could control them.
They turned and watched the barge circle around their Castle-Like base, Losing sight only when it passed behind the main citadel. As it came out on the other side they caught sight of faint flashes coming from the midsection of the ship.
"They still use flash for image capture?" A technician exclaimed in Horror.
A couple of chuckles resounded as the thought stuck. Flash had never been a form of photographic technology here, as the Cognits had long surpassed it in almost every way, just by relying on Gamma ray emissions.
Lupus straightened up and looked at the ship.
"They are broadcasting in DL-Frequencies." He Said, "looks like we are going to have a bit more company..."
-
They walked through the Gardens in silence. Shilo walked onwards and cut through a plot of vibrant red and yellow flowers he followed close behind. They approached a large Hedge wall and passed through it.
Rising up ahead of them was a small pyramidical shape that tapered into a tower rising up into the sky. He stopped as he looked at it in surprise before glancing back at Shilo. His eyes traveled up into the sky following the line until it just about faded away.
At the very top it expanded and seemed to be rounded. They resumed walking as the top vanished, enveloped in a cloud. The pyramid opened a small slot inwards and revealed an iron ladder reaching up into the tower.
Shiloh walked in and climbed up the ladder. He looked at the top again for a long moment before walking into the Pyramid and ascending the ladder.
He came out from the ladders pit and gazed up at the sun above him. He looked over and found Shiloh sitting at the edge of the glass gazing out at the horizon. He took hold of the tree near him and stepped over to the glass.
He brought himself down into rest position, and sat beside Shilo. He could feel the slight sway of the tower and his ducts flooded leaving him in a dark peaceful bliss.