"But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens I tell you, it had gone mad."
Joseph Conrad
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"Were you dropped on your head as a kid?" The silence at the cafeteria table was cut by a woman who stared, bewildered, at the man across from her as if he had committed sacrilege.
"What?! Me?" A grizzled man nearly choked on his food as he shot his head up, a strand of milk gliding down his beard. "If one of us has got problems, it's got to be you. Parents probably shook you around like a damn warp drive when you were a babe. Talking all that nonsense like you were."
"It's not nonsense if it's true." She muffled out as she took another spoonful from her bowl. "Get with the times, old man."
"True, my ass! I just don't understand how you can stomach that cardboard you want to call a 'cereal.'" He motioned toward her bowl with contempt. "But this!" He looked back down at his bowl reverentially. "This right here is some primo choice cereal, and it's probably the first time either of us has had anything other than those shitty nutrition bars or compressed rice for breakfast in a fair few years. All I'm saying is I don't understand why you're still eating garbage when we finally got good food for once."
"Yeah, I guess you were. Must've been a nasty drop, too. I feel bad for you."
"Damn it, girl! You haven't got a lick of taste nor sense in you."
The cereal tasted fine enough. Adrian twisted the spoon in his hand, watching the milk fall back into the bowl. He didn't even know which he grabbed. It looked like it could be any number of brands floating around out there, and he didn't much care either - only that it wouldn't come back up the same way it went down as it nearly threatened to with how his gut twisted and turned with every other bite, wringing itself inside out. This likely wasn't caused by the food itself, but the thing that writhed within - that seeping, eating feeling within his very being. The longer it did its work, the less Adrian knew who he saw when he looked in.
The sugary whatever-the-hells disappeared into his mouth, sliding off the spoon to make room for more as he continued to mindlessly chew, staring away into space.
Usually, he'd be a bit peeved if some loud group decided to sit at the table near his when there was an entire cafeteria's worth of other tables to be so chatty at. Now that he thought about it, it did annoy him. More than ever, really. He was just too damn tired to give it half a mind, and the other half was pulling in ten different directions at once, tearing itself apart.
As soon as they had all arrived and dismounted, they were practically herded to the cafeteria for some some late breakfast—a necessity considering the near labyrinthine nature of this colonial administration building turned revolutionary headquarters. It had all happened too fast for him to sneak away. This left him without even a clue about finding wherever they'd brought what they'd recovered to.
For now, he decided it would be best to grab something to eat as he figured out his next move… or the best his sleep-deprived and addled mind could. At least most of those here weren't conscripts, and he could actually hear his thoughts.
"Hey. Excuse me."
That wouldn't stop them from bugging him, it seemed.
Adrian was slow to look at the man who'd called him, and when he did, it must have been quite the look that Adrian was giving him with how the man suddenly hesitated to speak his mind.
"I've just got a quick question." He resumed after gathering himself. "Me and my friend here seem to have something of a difference in opinion about the cereal they got up there. So, I was hoping to use you as a tiebreaker and see which one you grabbed. Or at least liked better. I wouldn't be surprised if the good-" He drew the word out as he slowly swiveled his head towards the woman. "One ran out."
Adrian stared at him for a moment before looking down at his bowl, which harbored some brand of cereal he didn't know a damn about, before looking back up at him.
"They're all cereal. I was hungry. I grabbed one. Now I'm eating it." He said flatly. "I don't know which it is, but you'd get the same answer either way: It's good enough."
"Ohh-kay?" He looked at his friend who shrugged as she ate. "Well, have you ever had Frosted Rounds or Dreamer's?"
"Yeah."
"Which one do you like better?"
"I'm not a fan of either."
"I- uh… never mind then. Thanks. I guess." He was going to turn back to his table before he seemed to realize something and stop.
"Wait, you're one of Thai's guys, aren't ya'?" He eyed Adrian with a mix of interest and caution. "You all were at Traffic Control, right?"
Adrian nodded once. Jacob glanced around the cafeteria for any unwelcome ears and leaned closer.
"What happened up there? No one's telling us a thing, but from what I can tell, it doesn't sound good. Not with how hushed and cagey they're being about it."
"How many times do I have to tell you, Jacob?" His friend chimed in. "You really shouldn't be talking to the conscripts. It wouldn't be unlike them to shank you for less than a bowl of cereal where they come from."
"Dammit, Tess! Would you cut that out?" He shot back at her. "You're the one who's asking for it with all that noise you're making."
"I'm just telling it how it is." She returned to downing her bowl.
Jacob pulled his attention, albeit slowly, back to Adrian's dead-ahead stare with a half-hopeful grin.
"Heh, 'conscripts.' Get a load of her." He awkwardly laughed with a weary smile that didn't last long under the scrutiny. Twitching, it slowly fell away.
Adrian stared more through than at him, studying how he squirmed at the uncomfortable silence. While he realized that his trials and tribulations thus far likely hadn't left him looking the most welcoming, he let the unease persist. Because, unfortunately for Jacob, his discomfort did well to distract from other troubles of the mind. Adrian spoke again just before Jacob turned away.
"Gone now. Little more than ash." Adrian leaned in closer. "Quite a bit like all the hopes that rested with it and what's about to happen to this place pretty soon." His gaze slightly faltered, and he glanced away from Jacob's shocked one for a moment. This included his own. "There were quite a few hopes in there."
"Wait, wait, what?" Jacob sputtered and leaned back. "It's gone? Oh shit."
Adrian looked at him with the same detached stare and continued.
"Unfortunately–or perhaps even fortunately–depending on who you ask. But, If there is one hope we may yet hold on to, then let it be that they recovered something of use before the flames rendered the concrete and metal one."
"Still worried about cereal?" Tess shook her head and put her spoon down as she stared into the bowl.
"Preserve us…" Jacob began to turn away, but Adrian wasn't done with him yet.
"It's quite the thing, isn't it?" Adrian said surprisingly energetically, almost smiling. "To live in fear. Uncertainty."
"Still better than what we had before." Jacob looked him over queerly. "You're a strange one."
"Not so strange as believing redemption could be found within that compound. At least not for you." Adrian sat up and rolled his shoulders back. "We all know what's coming. Now we just won't know when."
"If what you're saying is true, then lord help that commando they got in the hold. Cause, oh boy, he's about to be the one living in fear pretty soon." Jacob huffed.
A buzzing ping drew the trio's attention to a datapad sitting on the table next to Tess.
"Already?" She groaned, picking it up.
"What now?" Jacob eagerly used this chance to turn away from Adrian and back to her.
"They want us to drop what we're doing and form up." She answered with a growing frown.
"Who's the prisoner?" Adrian tried to cut in.
"Damnit, tell 'em we just got here!" Jacob looked at the datapad.
"Yeah, I did. And so did almost all the other squad leads."
"Where would they be kept? Do you know anything about this one? What they look like?" Adrian continued but only seemed to be heard by the air around him.
"Did they say why?" Jacob continued.
"All they said is that we need to stop what we're doing if it's not essential and get over there right now."
"I don't remember when eating became 'non-essential'." Jacob groaned and clenched his spoon. "I wonder if this has something to do with that Control Center."
"Couldn't think of any other reason-"
"Hey! Hello?!" Adrian snapped his fingers loudly in front of their faces. "You two gone deaf, or are you trying to piss me off now? Where. The hell. Is that commando detained?"
"Why does it matter?" Tess spat. "Your unit has to form up too anyways, whether you like it or not. Look, it says right here-"
The datapad went skidding across the table and crashing onto the floor just as soon as she'd tried to raise it to Adrian.
"You convict piece of shit!" She shot up from the table. "You better not have broken my damn-"
"Screw your datapad!" Adrian leered over her.
The light above them cast his shadow over her. The image of Horrigan flashed through his mind, and the shadow that beast had cast over him. While Horrigan may have been a freak of nature that could easily treat him like a puppet, Adrian was no runt himself.
"Do me a favor and tell me where the fuck they're keeping them. And don't make the mistake of wasting my time." A low and coarse tone scraped its way out of Adrian's throat and through clenched teeth, dragging enough wrath behind it that it tempered her own.
"You're all the same…" She grimaced. "Holding is in the southern wing of the building. Just through the courtyard if you want to get there soon." She held the stare as she picked up her datapad. "Which you probably are. I don't know what they did to piss you off this much, but save it for them."
"Easy, wasn't it? But, I assure you, it's much obliged." Was all Adrian offered with a titled nod before he was headed for the door with almost every eye in the room following him. They watched him until he was gone.
"I can't stand those nutcases. And look at you, just standing there like an idiot while that was happening!"
"Hey!" Jacob threw his hands out in his defense. "You said it yourself. He probably would have stabbed me or something if I did anything right then."
"God, you're such a-" She growled and yanked her bowl off the table. The movement spilled half of what was left in the bowl across the table, and she looked ready to burst, but she didn't have the time to care about it. "Come on, let's go! We've wasted enough time as is, and whatever they want sounds important."
/|\
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Of course, it was him. Of anyone and everyone, it always seemed to be him. The man was like a damned stalker if Adrian didn't know better.
Behind the small plexiglass window that sat in the middle of the thick steel door within the detention hall was the one and only Jules. Master of being Adrian's second shadow. For better or worse.
Adrian didn't know why he had felt such a driving compulsion to find out who it even was. Every step of the way there, he told himself it was most likely some no-name that he would ultimately leave to their fate and that he was wasting his time. Even then, some deep, guttural feeling told him that he needed to find out. The same feeling that had driven him to cause that scene in the cafeteria and leave a few bumped shoulders behind without apology.
It should have been left a mystery. His teeth slowly scraped against each other as his jaw tensed. Coming here had been a mistake. He should have only focused on finding what he actually needed from this blasted place. Instead, with it being the one and only Jules, along with the fact that it looked like he had either spent some time with interrogators without ethics, or just bruised up for fun, it complicated the matter even further.
The man summoned a burning hole of anger in Adrian. His inaction, and in turn, complicity in Elena's abduction, along with Adrian's soon-to-be black book execution, made his eye twitch as he bit his cheek. This wrath, despite however much he wished it would, did not burn bright for very long. It quickly cooled, dwindling to a meager flame of resentment. It was tempered by the fact he'd done just as much for him as he had against, if not more. That, and his hand to play in that series of events that made him roughly grit his teeth to subdue the burning sensation it sparked, was most likely indirect and misled.
I think his heart's in the right place…
His own words to Elena echoed back to him.
Who was he to tell her such things, if he would not abide by or believe it himself?
He almost wanted to damn that compassion he used to set as an example for Elena. But now, with his anger cooled and the sight of Jules' head drooped and uniform speckled with dried blood, the same magic that had driven him to turn back and save Thai from his encroaching doom began to resurface. If he wanted to set an example for her, he'd have to be it, even when she wasn't around to see.
Even if it would delay him even more, further risking his chances?
He didn't know, but he was too close to the edge. If he didn't want to fall, he couldn't let the means overtake him. He'd promised himself, promised her, they wouldn't.
He wasn't down for the count yet, though. Adrian ducked out of sight when Jules began to move, hiding just before he had looked up to spot him.
Pushing himself from the door, he sighed. Jules would have to come later. The possibility of that data being intact and its location was a priority. From what he'd seen so far, Jules was of a hardy stock. He'd survive until then.
"You're a hard man to find."
Adrian shot his head down the short hallway. A single, sharp red light stared at him from its end. The source, a tall man bearing a gaunt and tired face that hid under a balaclava–save for that red bionic eyepiece and his other wrinkled and scrutinizing eye–stood at the end, flashing in and out of sight under a dim light that could not decide between life or death.
"And who exactly is trying to find me?" Adrian straightened up to face the man, holding a slight tilt in his posture, unsure of his intentions. "And why?"
"What a strange question. Thai, of course. He remembered you. Gave me your description." He said, strolling out from under the flickering light with his hands held leisurely behind his back.
Like most others here, he sported that signature UPP green but was devoid of most armor, favoring a lightweight, dexterous approach.
"He's up already?" Adrian cocked an eyebrow, impressed. "He is a tough bastard."
Let's just hope I don't have to see just how tough.
"It's to be expected from a man of his caliber." The man surveyed the row of doors as he passed them.
"But then who are you? And how'd you manage to find me here?" Adrian looked around. No cameras to be found, and neither had there been any other proggies nearby. All that he had encountered were far too preoccupied with their hurried rush to where everyone seemed to be going right now.
"It really should be me asking that." He shook his head. "But, I have accepted the fact that many in our employ are rather indolent, but you seem to be an exceptional case." His words dripped with derision. "As even a rather vexed squad leader from 2nd Battalion knew well about you. And it sounded like she wished he didn't with how she stopped me just outside the cafeteria and was well keen to voice her ire."
Adrian's eyes drooped as his shoulders sagged. He could see it now, plastered in brass and shining on whatever desk lay in wait for him in Hell: Adrian, Master of Screwing Everything Up.
"She had quite a bit to say about all of us, but one of our men stood out in particular. Made good use of more than a few expletives as she went into her detailed ramblings. Normally, I wouldn't much regard such complaints." He dismissively waved his hand off. "However, and as you should well remember," He stopped within breathing distance of Adrian. "We've had far too many unit demerits due to our… differences with the other battalions."
Adrian looked him up and down as he stood uneasily close. He was lean in stature, like that of a runner or more so a gymnast despite his apparent advanced age, but one who carried a pompous air of disdain about him.
"So," He began again. "Initially, I had planned on leaving whoever it was in one of these cells with half rations and then happily forgetting they existed. Something I was quite looking forward to, but then, much to my misfortune, I asked who it was and where they went." He looked around at the doors that lined the walls. "As the more she talked, the more it sounded like the man Thai wanted me to find." His narrow gaze stopped on Adrian again, his hand held up in a shaking fist.
It was an effort for Adrian to not roll or squeeze his eyes shut. He instead opted to let his tongue bear the punishment for his carelessness as it was ground between his teeth.
"And I'm guessing he wants to see me."
"Astute." The man half-smiled under the cloth.
"Hmpf." Adrian eyed him. "I don't get the feeling this is an offer I can refuse."
"I didn't say he was offering anything." He tilted his head towards Adrian, hands still held behind him. "But if you are feeling even more charitable to the cause and are willing to let your rations go to more agreeable soldiers, I wouldn't stop you."
Adrian gave a final glance back at the door that held Jules behind it.
"You lead."
"I wouldn't waste your time with that one, anyways." He waved dismissively towards the door. "Interrogators can't get sparse a thing out of him. Some masochist, I figure. But, that wouldn't be the strangest thing for those in their company."
"No. I guess it wouldn't. Let's go."
/|\
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This planet was only a new prison for her. For all of them. They hadn't been here for too long, but that made little difference when it was hard to keep track of time and when nearly all of that which could be would be nothing more than a bad memory.
When Elena woke after being moved to her new containment, it was more of the same, with a paltry sum of differences.
All it really was, was another featureless cell only with slightly more space–which was practically useless thanks to these loathsome restraints that rarely allowed her the freedom of movement save for when they fed her or made her perform mundane activities–and a single large mirror that sat constantly in front of her, taunting her with the single image it always held: herself. One she was slowly growing to hate. Oh, and whenever she didn't feel like a few minutes of freedom were enough or that she didn't want to be their little test subject, they gave her a nice shock until she got back into the restraints herself.
She was having a wonderful time.
To add to this heaping mountain of grievances was the worst of them all and the real pièce de résistance. A brand new and shiny psychic collar that had sent her into quite a panic and given her quite a few nasty shocks when she'd first woken up only to find she was alone again, unable to reach her sisters and had nearly fainted as she fought against her restraints, crying out for her sisters, for Adrian.
The only small bit of respite to be found was that she was quickly outgrowing this one, too. When she had finally been able to reach beyond it again, back to the rest of her kind, it seemed that their restraints, both physical and mental, had mostly been parted with. Good for them, she guessed.
Immediate and merciless, shame quenched her simmering resentment–as unfounded as it was–but such a feeling for them could never have lasted long anyway. Not when a dozen of her sisters nearly suffocated her with their love and concern when her presence had resurfaced for them. It made her feel all the more guilty.
At least she wouldn't be pulling all the work in keeping them all connected now, and maybe she could have some privacy again… if that was even good for her to have yet.
Overall, the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
She believed this pattern would persist even when her restraints suddenly clicked and swung open.
Planting her feet, she deftly crawled out of the back of it before stretching out to her full height again with a few pops and relieved whine. Nervously, she rubbed her raw wrists as she looked around the room and wondered what the occasion was.
Likely nothing she'd be fond of.
She wasn't sure if she preferred to be left alone but stuck in that uncomfortable and demeaning position or free to move but at the cost of being ordered around by a bodiless voice the entire time. Neither was preferable.
Her tail unconsciously drifted around the front of her so that she could hold it. It had been rubbed sore from its constriction, but she also wanted something to hold onto for comfort.
"Good morning, SEPIR."
She jerked as the voice sounded above her without warning and tried to ignore the pang of anger that their title for her sent through her. Although, was it morning? It was hard to tell anymore.
"I doubt there's much need for formalities still, seeing as we've already gone through this a few times. Oh, and we'll be forgoing breakfast until we're done."
Pretending to listen, Elena bounced her head from side to side as she hugged her tail against her and lightly stroked it, brushing it back and forth across her head. She doubted anyone but she and her sisters were missing meals in this place, especially the source of the voice by the sound of it with how it almost sounded gurgly as it rolled through his throat just to reach day.
This didn't cast away hunger, though. But then again, it was just another thing they held above her to get her to dance.
"We'll begin with another cognitive test." The nasally and guttural voice continued. "Look at the camera that drops down from the ceiling and watch it until either I tell you or it goes back up."
On cue, a small slot opened in the ceiling toward the mirrored glass that showed her visage, or the best of it, she could see through her wide, slightly distorted, and almost fish-eyed vision. There hadn't been much to it at first, but when all she could do was study herself, it didn't take long to start finding all the things that she didn't like. As much as she wanted to for the millionth time, she couldn't sit loathing about it now. That would most likely net her another shock for not listening and delaying yet another test. This was made evident when those on the other side of the glass, seeming to grow impatient with her incessant staring, wiggled the camera to grab her attention.
Whether voluntarily or out of reaction, she looked at it and held her stare like they wanted when it performed several moves. She tracked it without fault as it also moved in any number of directions. There wasn't much to act itself, but it was more demeaning than she could describe with the pit it left in her. She only complied because she was too familiar with and scared of the 'encouragement' they would apply should she refuse.
Following the camera as she did, it was difficult to suppress the spiteful snarl that pried at her lips. After following along for some time at varying speeds and angles, the camera retracted back into the ceiling and was replaced by a screen that unfolded with its descent. It displayed anything from colors, shapes, and images, to even words–which she pretended not to understand–and more than not, a mix of them. All were used for different tests of memory, pattern recognition, object permanence and more with the small quizzes they included.
"Good, good." He said in feigned encouragement. "With the the basics out of the way, and everything seeming fine in that regard, let's try your neurosynaptics once again." The screen folded again and retracted as quickly as the camera had, but a terrible and dreadful feeling remained in its stead.
A moment later, a simple metal ball dropped before her, bouncing once with a clang. Her lip twitched to reveal one of her fangs as she stared at the ball with contempt.
"Yes, SEPIR. This again." He laughed with latent impatience. "We shall continue to try this every day until you do as instructed because we know that you can. So, once again, move the ball without touching it."
Elena huffed as she stared at it and looked up towards the mirror with a steep frown.
"And please stop hugging your tail. It's childish - if your kind should even know the meaning of that word."
This time, she couldn't hide the snarl.
Elena? Are you alright? The voice of her sister, who had been most keen to talk to her but still desired no name, appeared in her mind, likely having felt her growing frustration. I can feel you're quite upset again—more than usual.
Yes. Elena answered sharply in her frustration. Shame was once again quick and effective to take its place and calm her down. For the most part… I guess. It's just more of these stupid tests. She held the sides of her head as she shook it. I only play along so I can get out of those horrible restraints. They start to annoy me so much that it's like I have no choice but to act like a dog just to get out of them.
That's likely what they intended for. It's a terrible thing, and especially terrible for you. I wish I could do more - for you, for all of us. But I do all I can, and I must keep looking forward because if I look back without keeping in mind what's ahead of me, I risk falling. Much like you do now, Elena.
Silence reigned between them, having cooled Elena down enough to prompt her to sit on the floor, pulling her knees to her chest as her tail swayed in front of her, all the while still staring at the shiny sphere. The eyes that she felt staring at her from the other side of the glass made the task ever more difficult, even if the most challenging part was her not believing she could do it in the first place. That was the real challenge in doing this, even when the threat of those shocks sometimes scared her to the point of shaking.
Will this change? Will we be free? Or will we be stuck here until they finally get tired of us and… She didn't want to say what they might do to them. I miss him. Her head slowly fell, leaving the ball.
I know, Elena. Her sister said quietly. But it can't last forever.
But will we like what comes next?
What do you want next?
You already know what I want! The ball suddenly jerked as she tensed her clawed fingers and rocked back to stillness. All of you do, and I know how some of you feel about me because of it! She flexed her claws as she bit back her whimper. Well, I'm sorry. I really am. I wish that all of us could know that wonderful connection to our bonded. But only I do, and he's more than just a want! I need him!
The ball jerked again, but this time began to slowly rotate where it sat.
I should have done more! Been more!
Stop that! You couldn't have! Her sister's own bout of anger, if it could even be called that, pulled her out of her downward spiral. I've already told you this, and you already know, but you refuse to believe it. Her sister calmed herself. I can't blame you, though. Not in the slightest. I understand that fear, how terrible and soul-gripping it is. And as for me? It's still with me, only having evolved beyond fear, and I refuse to let the same happen to you. So please, promise me this. Remember it. Remember every little detail you love about it - about him and your connection to him - that wonderful bond! Hold it close so you don't sink. Her voice wavered and Elena could feel the painful passion in her words. So many of your sisters risk falling without theirs and becoming little more than feral even with us all here for them. She was quiet for a moment but resumed hushed and halting. But… Yes, some of our sisters… as well as I–I must admit–hurt. Because that pain never goes away, and our hearts sting every time we remember what we've lost, what we could have had, and it hurts so much more to know that it was because of you. Even if you didn't know any better. She stopped again as her voice faltered, a sliver from breaking. When you only tried harder to free yourself so you could save them from the pain and fear you felt, not realizing what you were doing until it was too late. Her sister had to stop and collect herself, continuing in her clinical fashion. They hurt, more than you could imagine, but they don't hate you. They don't blame you. None of us do. Some of them only wish to ease this burden any way they can when there's nothing else but all the time in the world to think of it.
Elena squeezed her mouth shut tight to keep it from quivering, only fearing she would soon join them in this everlasting pain that they could only hide from in each other's presence.
I should have-
You can't live your life on 'should-haves.' You had just as much control over what happened as we did. You did all you could have.
And why shouldn't I? I might be the only one of us who had that chance, but I seem to be the only one who could have still wasted it!
You still have that chance! Her sister nearly screamed in Elena's head, making her flinch. Whether you want to believe it or not! By our Mothers Elena! What I wouldn't give for that chance!
I KNOW!
If one had blinked, they would have missed it as the ball froze for a fraction of a second before launching towards the window. It collided with a resounding blast that made her flinch and shield herself from the wave of shimmering glass shards that were launched away from it. The ball remained lodged deep in the indent it had forced into the glass, surrounded by countless cracks that thinned as they spread.
I want to believe you. I do…
You have to, Elena. Believe in that chance for a life that we all wanted more than anything. We don't hate you for it. None of us do! We never could. Even if there were some insane and impossible reason, we would never want to. And I can forever assure and promise you there never will be. We love you more than you could understand. More than any of us could describe. So that hope? The one that still exists within you? Never let it go. Because out of all of us, you have the most to hope for.
Elena did not answer, only staring at the floor. Her sister was right, and it hurt just like she said. The worst of it was how she felt she was failing Adrian yet again. Even while she believed her sister's words that this was out of her power, the myriad of cracks that spanned the mirror in front of her, cutting through her reflection, told her that if anyone had the power to break their chains, it was her.
I'm sorry… Elena choked back a sob as her lips peeled back but felt her sister's presence brush against her own as it tightly wound around her soul.
Do you want to know something? You lash out because you have the most to live for and the will to live for it. Stay strong, and keep your love for him close. I'm not saying this for my sake or even the rest of our sisters. I'm telling you this because if I could give my chance at freedom so that you may see him again, I would. I believe any of us would.
He was already next to her heart. He had never left. The only way he could have was if her heart no longer beat, but even then, she'd find a way to keep him there.
Her mind and memories drifted around him again, as they very often did. Her heart steadied, and her mind stilled. She would be with him again, one way or the other. There was no other choice.
"Well done, SEPIR. We believe you've earned yourself a bit of stress relief for this accomplishment."
She snarled at his smugness. There was no point in trying to hide her hate at the mention of their encouraged 'compliance' anymore. It was just their beat-around-the-bush way of referring to the burning pain they would send tearing through her entire being whenever they didn't get what they wanted.
She would dance to their tune for now, but only so she could creep closer to the cord that would pull away the curtain. It wouldn't be long for the notes of their dire symphony to sour. She'd make sure of it.
Her body sharply twisted toward the door leading into the room. The checkpoint was cycling, and she could smell something within and feel the slight tingle of an unconnected presence in her head. Someone was coming in.
She bolted to all fours and lunged onto the wall, scrambling for the darkest corner in the room, which just so happened to be the one directly above the door, and clawed herself deep into its shadows by the ceiling as she watched it. Her tail hovered in front of her, ready to strike as she bared her teeth in a silent, anxious growl.
As she watched it open just below, nothing happened at first except the lingering stench of fear that seeped through. Slowly, a human followed behind it as they peeked their head through the entry, cautiously surveying the room before their eyes settled on the cracked window and glass flakes that littered the floor.
"Oh." They said, relaxing as they pulled a cart laden with cleaning supplies into the room. "How did this even happen?"
"Something well beyond your pay but well within your NDA." The intercom answered sternly.
"Alright, alright. I was just wondering. It's just some tough glass, is all, and that ball nearly broke through. Whatever it's supposed to even be for."
He looked about the mess with an extra long and inquisitive study of the holding device, unaware of the apex predator directly above him. She sat there frozen, hoping he wouldn't see her, hoping he would just do whatever he was in here for and be on his way.
This one wasn't quite like the others that she hated. They had a distinctive feeling about them that this one lacked and told her that they weren't as deserving of her blade through their back. Yet this didn't arrest the urge that made her tail sway with vengeful anticipation. This fact filled her with alarm for some reason. Half of her mind told her it would be barbarous, that such an act would only serve to disgust and repulse Adrian and make her little more than a monster that acted on base impulse that they acclaimed her to be. The other half, though, wanted to cut down just about anyone who worked for the same entity as those that had torn them apart without a second thought, and told her that Adrian would be proud of her for such - proud of her strength and conviction no matter the cost.
Much to her relief, the growing apprehension that manifested itself with her tail slowly pointing toward him began to fade as he turned away and began to clean up, beginning with the ball. He underestimated its weight at first when he grabbed it, only for it to slip out of his fingers and clang back to the floor.
"Man! The thing's heavy."
He picked it up again with a slight grunt and deposited it in a box on his cart before he grabbed a long stick with a fuzzy end and began rounding up all of the glittering shards on the floor into a pile.
The intercom buzzed back to life, drawing both their attention to it.
"Would you please check the corner just by the door for glass? I believe some of it ended up there, as well."
No! Why did you have to-? Ah, you little… If I ever get the chance… She cursed as her lips curled back again, forcing her to suppress yet another growl.
"I didn't see any over there when I came in." He mumbled but began moving directly towards Elena.
She squeezed herself even tighter into the corner, if that was even possible, trying to make herself as small as possible and hide from the light as her heart raced.
Don't look up. Please , don't look up.
The janitor grew troubled as he drew closer, ignorant that such a feeling was because of her. This only continued to grow all the way to when he–almost gagging as he put a hand to his head–was practically underneath her, still unaware of her presence. That was until he bobbed his head back from the nausea.
It took him a moment to process what he saw, his brow furrowing and mouth going slightly agape as his mind barely recognized that a shape had been curled in that dark corner. Slowly, his head lowered from where it looked directly at the ceiling and back to that corner, where he squinted and leaned in closer. His mouth quickly dropped the rest of the way, and his eyes grew wide.
Oh no.
They stared at each other, both caught frozen in place. His eyes drifted to the blade of her tail as it pointed directly at him. That probably wasn't helping anything, she realized, and brought her tail to her chest despite how much her instincts fought her. The act of peace hardly did a thing to help the situation as he began to shake, and his breath grew ragged. In a last-ditch attempt, she tried to force the best of a smile she could as her lips slowly twitched up, revealing her teeth.
He didn't much like that with how he descended into a panicked stammer before crying out and turning to run anywhere that was away from her without thinking about how that 'anywhere' was away from the door. He'd also looked back at her as he did and lost his footing on the shard of glass, falling right into it. When he scrambled back up, he was now host to several small cuts all along his hands and face that slowly trickled with small droplets of blood.
Elena's smile faded to a disappointed and embarrassed scowl as she slowly lowered herself to the ground. While his terror saturated all the air in both smell and sound, it so completely invaded her senses to the point where it even raged around her head, too. It was giving her a headache with how his fear somehow spun and grated against her own psyche.
Calm down, would you? Please? You're causing my head to spin. She rubbed her temples as she raised to her full height.
Really. It's starting to hurt.
What a folly it was to try reason when he couldn't hear her, and she doubted he'd care if he could. It was starting to drive her up the wall as his panic invaded her and sought to infest her with her own. She felt her heart begin to race and her carapace shiver as it demanded more oxygen. The more she tried to shut out this fear that wasn't her own, the more it took her.
I said quit it! If I'd wanted to kill you, you wouldn't have even seen it coming! She leered above him, staring down at his cowering in the corner as he occasionally banged on the wall screaming to be let out, to be saved from her - the monster, the beast.
So I'm the monster here now? Am I the one who made you come in here, lied to you to get you close to me in hopes I would kill you? Was I the monster who did that?! She didn't know whether to scream or cry as she demanded answers from one who could not give them, especially not as they stared up at her with a terror ineffable.
She leaned away, suddenly realizing how close she'd grown when her claws trembled just inches from either side of his head.
When had that happened?
The question abruptly snapped her out of it, bringing her to her senses and revealing how much she'd let his fear and terror enter her mind and affect her as well.
It wasn't only her claws; her entire arsenal had been brought to bear. Her jaw had furtively opened to reveal a smaller yet just as deadly jaw within; her claws were spread and tense, twitching for use, and her tail loomed above him with its tip ready to rend the flesh and crush the bone.
All at once, they returned to a neutral yet distressed state as she clutched herself and backed away from him.
She.. she had let herself be taken by emotions that weren't even hers or anyone she even knew. Did she not even have control over herself anymore? It wasn't this man, cut up and bleeding helplessly on the floor that had done this to her - to her sisters. He was just another victim of the same tormentor.
Am…am I?
She pulled tighter into herself and her clutching hug. A new fear swept over her, but this one was of her own creation—a fear of herself.
She looked at the mirrored glass next to her. It was still her. Even when the cracks made her unrecognizable.
Adrian… She moaned.
"That's… good enough. We should have what we need. Gas it."
"H-huh?!" The janitor's head darted between her and the window. "H-Hey! Wait! I'm still in here!"
He looked back at Elena, and seeing that she wasn't paying attention to him, he shuffled away from her and towards the door.
She didn't move when he began pounding on the door, yelling to be let out. She didn't move when that pungent gas began to shoot down in the room, and she still didn't move when the janitor's choking coughs slowed, just as her grip on consciousness did. It didn't take long for her to fall where she was, never breaking her stare on her broken reflection until there was no choice but to.
It can't last forever. She whispered to herself as her head spun and vision darkened as a choking sensation of her own began to fill her. An-and when it ends, I'll be with him again.
/|\
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Adrian shut the door behind him. A terrible thrumming was raging through his head, and something weighed heavy in his chest. It was unbearable, but he kept it down; kept it secret as Lieutenant Viktor, the name of his leash holder, was told to wait outside at Thai's behest, much to the Lieutenant's disapproving obedience.
The rhythmic beeping of the ECG was the only noise in the room and sent a ticking twitch through him with every beep.
At least this medical station wasn't plastered in that blinding white that Wey-Yu seemed to have a fetish for. Instead, it was a relieving dull gray complimented by a soft brown.
"And here comes the man of the hour." Thai broke the silence that lingered between them while Adrian stood there, silent.
A silence that persisted with him as Thai continued to speak.
"Looking like shit, too. But, you can't say much more about the rest of us. Especially when lookin' at me. Guess glory doesn't come cheap. Still! There I was, thinking I was going to be the 'first one in, last one out' that whole shebang, you know?" He wheezed a chuckle and shook his head. "All of that really should have been beat out of me when I was part of the chain gang. Or, if I were a mite smarter, I would've left it behind either way. What they say is true, I guess. You can take the person out of the place, but you can't take the place out of the person."
"That's to say you ever left." Adrian finally spoke up.
"Maybe not." Thai smiled.
The two stared at each other silently some more.
"Long night, eh?" Thai mused. "You look like you need a bed just as much as I do."
"You could say that." Adrian eyed his burn patches, and Thai spoke again.
"Guess we all did. Might have something to do with this new situation we've got on our hands, too. Weren't at our tip-top shape when we needed to most." Thai shook his head but was amused by Adrian's enduring distant silence.
"C'mere!" He motioned for Adrian to come to the side of the bed. "Don't be a stranger, you did save my ass, after all."
Adrian contemplated the offer for a moment, holding his lidded and simmering stare until he realized that it wasn't so much an offer as it was an order. Better to get this done with and out of here, anyway.
Straightening from the unconscious slouch he often caught himself slipping into recently, he went and stood by the bed.
"Yeah, it was one hell of a time last night. I'll tell you that much." Thai started while staring off into space. "But, good things don't last, especially not for the likes of us." He glowered. "Because low and behold, one of my men just has to wind up dead in some back alley and ruin our night."
If there was one thing to be thankful for in his sleep-deprived state, it was the relative ease it gave keeping a straight face. That didn't stop the palpitations, though.
"Choked to death on his own puke. Figured the dumbass had blacked out and gone like that. Hmpf, wouldn't put it past that drunkard." Thai wanted to laugh but rolled his jaw as his eyes narrowed. "Except that theory didn't quite last long. Not when some of his armor and sidearm wound up missing. And to slap the final sticky note scribbled with a big 'Fuck you!' right onto our foreheads, one of our cars was stolen not long after, and the son of a bitch who did it broke another one of my boy's legs in the process! Like, damn! It really made me wish whoever it was worked for me. I love that kind of shit in this band of bastards sometimes. Except I didn't really like it then, not when the most of us had to forgo the luxury of sleep after the fact." His eyes returned to reality and looked at Adrian who still held his tongue, and now his eyes looked distant and unfocused.
"But then, there I was, at my lowest while stuck in crap-shoot central, with Death all but rearing to take me. Hell, the bastard didn't even bother to collect me himself! Had to send a dead man walking to do the job." He smiled at first but let it fall away as he squinted at Adrian. "I thought it was some final joke before I was due. A way to get back at the ugly mug who'd pulled the wool over his eyes a few too many times. Especially when his errand boy walked away at first, but that wasn't the funniest part. It was when he came back that was. Just threw me on his shoulders and hauled me out of that oven like a sack of potatoes right on the verge of being baked." He finished, his gaze suddenly hardening on Adrian, who saw Thai's hand jolt towards his throat too late.
How a burn and smoke inhalation victim could move that fast with such strength, Adrian didn't know, but Thai still managed to nab the top of his armor plate and yank him down to his level.
Adrian's wild-eyed attempt to back up was promptly halted when he was pulled down again, putting their heads right next to each other. Now he may have been pretty far from his prime right now, but that wasn't what stopped him from trying again. What did was Thai. Who, with such an unforeseen commandind presence from a man in his position, compelled Adrian to stop and listen.
"Which is why I'm left with something of a… personal dilemma. To put it lightly." His words were veiled with calm but seeped with antipathy. "That was a good man you killed-"
"I didn't kill him." Adrian hissed right back as he squeezed the wrist that held him down. "All I needed was the armor. Once I had that, I left him as he was - breathing and heart still beating."
"It doesn't make a difference, and I doubt I'd care if it did." Thai growled as he pulled him down again. "You can try and explain it away or make it sound as reasonable as you like, but doesn't change how we found him there—left on his back just to choke. Think of it any way you want, but it was you. It was only you."
With one hand steadying himself and the other on his gun, Adrian was ready to set the domino chain in motion right then and there. It was a reality that seemed to tick ever closer as his own ticking grew louder in his ears. The longer he delayed that possibility, however, the better.
"It'd be best for both of our well-being if you let go." Adrian growled.
Thai stared deep into Adrian's soul as he dwelled on the words but eventually relaxed with a raspy laugh and fell back onto his pillow, loosening his hold. Adrian cautiously followed suit and slowly slid the pistol back into its holster.
"And that's why I'm in a bit of a predicament." Thai said before letting the rest of his grip on Adrian go.
He chuckled again when the latter roughly pushed himself away.
"See… I should kill you for just being on my planet, but I won't let anyone say I don't keep my debts in check." He gave Adrian a severe glare. "That's if it can even be considered a debt with you killing my guy." He stated harshly but regained his shark tooth smile as he settled into the bed. "So let's meet in the middle. I won't immediately kill you, but that doesn't mean you get a free ticket out of here. You got an hour. After that, you're going to be playing a real tipped game of cat and mouse. Time starts now."
His smile only grew when Adrian narrowed his eyes and turned to leave, only to stop short of the door as his hand hovered above the handle.
"Enjoy my company that much?" He asked mockingly.
Adrian could taste the ridicule in his words.
"You weren't the only thing pulled out of that fire," Adrian turned his narrowed eyes towards him with a venom of his own to share, "Even if maybe you shouldn't have been."
"Wo-hohhh! You got quite some lip for someone in your position. Guess that whole thing I said about 'the person and the place' is truer than I thought."
"Could be, but I've still got that hour. I need to know where they would keep something like data from the traffic control center. That's all. After that, I'll leave you in peace to cough up a lung."
"What makes you think I know, buttercup? I just do the fighting! And what makes you think I would even tell you?"
Adrian's already heated glare grew fiery at this.
"Oh, don't give me that look. Even if something survived, I don't know - that's the truth. But if you want to get shot that bad, then don't let me keep you. I'd venture a guess that something like that would've found its way to the command offices."
Adrian studied his words, picking and prodding at them in his mind for their truth. He couldn't tell if anything Thai would tell him was. For all he knew, the only thing he'd find outside of that door was a knife in the back.
"Well?" Thai laughed. "I'm already giving you way more time and info than you deserve. Every minute counts, and they're counting right now. So don't go and give me the idea to start charging you."
"You might have escaped those flames. Be it thanks to luck that wasn't your own…" Adrian clenched his fists. "But a worse fire is coming, and it's closer than you think. It'll eat you whole. All of you." He motioned his hand around, signaling he meant everyone in this place. Finally, he tore his vicious gaze away from Thai and sped out of the room, shoving past a rather incensed Viktor in the process.
The man gave no pursuit, only shaking his head as he took Adrian's place in the room. What did chase Adrian, though, was Thai's rasping laugh as it followed him down the hall.
/|\
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Viktor brushed his shoulder where Adrian had shoved past him, watching as Adrian went with vivid disdain.
He wasn't worth the time or care… unless Thai gave him the OK. Then, it would be a paltry matter.
Thai was recovering from his laughing fit when he looked inside the room, the man hitting his chest as he coughed.
"That imbecile would learn a thing or two in subtlety should he have half the mind to." Viktor rested a hand on his silenced pistol–a gutsy little thing designed by Hyperdyne that fired two rounds in near unnoticeable succession–and motioned his head towards the door. "Should I?"
The offer was tempting and worked its way through the gears in Thai's head until he came to a decision with half a smile.
"Nah. Not now, at least. He seemed like a man on a mission and I'd really like it if he got to meet Reynard. If I'm lucky, only one of em' will walk out of that encounter, and if I'm really lucky? Neither."
"Very well." Viktor nodded.
"That hour still stands, though. After that, he's fair game. Unless he does something to expedite the party without the need of our help."
"Would it be too presumptuous to suggest that I see the matter through myself should the time come?"
"Man, you really hate that guy." Thai laughed. "Well, If you got nothing better to do by then, I suppose you may."
"Then, hopefully, whatever it is that he implied is coming shall take its time."
"Oh yeah! Shit… I forgot about that whole thing..." He pressed his head back into the pillow, suddenly remembering the writing he'd seen on the walls and in the reports. "Change of plans, my little French friend, because if there was anything that Firebrand was right about, it was that. So go on and help me out of this bed and grab a few of the guys–competent ones. We're leaving this fandango before the little green men bust the door in."
Viktor's jaw visibly flexed and clenched under his mask, but that was all in the way of objection that he gave as he moved to help a Thai who was already sliding his feet over the edge of the bed.
"Perhaps it's for the best." Viktor still didn't sound too enthused about leaving his target behind. "But, I doubt he'll survive the Royals anyway."
/|\
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An hour.
Adrian's lip twitched as a few people hurriedly ran past–and almost into–him while shouting about something he didn't care to hear. Only a few of their words made it through to him before they disappeared, and they all seemed to revolve around some "landings" and "mobilization".
An HOUR. It repeated in his head again as he stood at the crossroads, two different paths ahead of him.
"AN HOUR?!" His scream echoed down both as he pressed his head into his fists.
No one heard him, for there was none around to. The halls had been abandoned since that stint with Thai, with some signs of dropped activities to be seen here and there, from tools left lying next to open panels to personal belongings forgotten in the rush. Still, it wouldn't have made a difference had there been anyone around. There was so much to do and so little time.
"An hour." He answered himself quietly with closed eyes.
When he squeezed them shut and focused as much as he could, he could feel it—her being. So far away yet right next to him, despite however weak and clouded it was. If he tried hard enough, he could swear to almost even see her—not the physical her, but who she truly was: her soul. Her spirit and being were still with him, and he held onto them dearly.
As much as he hated to, he had to let it go back into the background noise where it lay ever so subtly in his subconscious as he opened his eyes. The priorities at hand would not permit an hour. Not if he wanted to see them all through. Yet, he need not even ask which of them took primacy. That image of her that danced in his mind answered that question. It had this entire path he'd been treading. She was what drove him forward every step, after all.
In that image of her that filled the entirety of his mind's eye, he saw everything about her that conjured the storms in his mind and soul. And how, how wonderfully deliriously they swirled and tore through him. Her small, lovely smile, her spirit, her love and unfaltering affection that was as infinite as his own. All of it was ever so dear to him. His words could never do justice, but it would never stop him from trying.
Then why was he still standing here?
All that he needed to know was already in his lap; he had started from the top down. He knew where to look, where the interstellar-rated ships were, and how to get onto one and get the hell off this planet. All he needed to do now was keep straight ahead. If he did, he could be in and out, easy as that.
Where the circumstances had robbed him of his first chance, it now burned his way clear to a new one. This was his second and final chance, and yet he still didn't move. He couldn't put one foot after the other with his goal straight ahead.
His eyes, constantly drifting down the path to the right that went back to the detention block, were in constant need to be pried away from it. Eventually, he couldn't pull them away at all and stood staring down that corridor.
Could he afford such idealism at a time like this?
"Oh, FINE!" He yelled at his conscience. "Fine…"
But if this causes us to lose yet another–and probably last–chance, I'm blowing you out of my head!
"Sorry, not sorry, Mister Thai, but an hour isn't going to be enough." Adrian laughed grimly to himself as he began to jog down the path to the right.
Here we go again.
/|\
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"Why do they even have us bothering with this guy again?" A man said, letting go of Jules' hair and letting his head fall. "Isn't there something pretty big going on? Can't see why they have us here instead of wherever the hell everyone else is off to in such a rush."
"Maybe because I'm as dangerous as they come, mate." Jules chimed in hoarsely as he stared at the floor. "Wouldn't want little old me getting loose."
His continued insolence wasn't taken too kindly as a backhand whipped his head to the side.
"Wasn't asking you, bloodletter!" The interrogator barked as Jules coughed and gagged for a moment before spitting a red glob onto the floor.
It didn't stop him from weakly chortling when he gathered himself again.
"See what I mean?" The first gave a white cloth a few new streaks of red down it as he wiped his hand off.
"This guy…" The other interrogator shook his head as he leaned on the wall beside the other two.
It wasn't long when both of their heads jerked towards it, however, when a rough rapping came through from the other side.
"What the hell…" The second one sneered as he got off the wall. "'Go try to get something out of the prisoner. No, come back. Actually, go try again!'" He rattled his head from side to side as he mocked whatever constant and contradictory orders aggrieved him. "Will they make up their damn minds already?" He slid the cover off of the small window before grumbling and closing it again. "Of course, it's one of them."
"Who is it?" The first asked as the second was undoing the lock.
"It's one of those damn conscripts. Probably here to indulge some sadistic fetish or something."
Jules briefly snickered, netting him two hard stares before the door was opened.
"Yeah? What do you need? We just got here."
His rude impatience was rewarded with a nice shove as he was pushed out of the doorway, nearly tripping over the table that held their tools as Adrian marched in.
"What frequency are you two on?! Check your goddamn radios!" Adrian demanded as he looked between them and Jules. The sight made him scowl and reaffirmed the decision within his heart to come here.
"What? What do you mean 'are we on the right freq'? What's going on out there?" One of them asked as he pulled his radio off his belt, inspecting it.
"I don't see anything wrong with it-" He had begun to say as he tapped the side of his radio. Nothing had been wrong with it, but the new hole that drove through it, exploding out toward him, rectified that.
"Now there is." Adrian answered grimly, still looking down at Jules when he had fired off that single round with his pistol held across his waist. He turned to face the other one, only for it to feel like a mistake that he had.
The recipient of his vengeance was still standing. An unforeseen outcome. That by itself wouldn't have been an issue. What made it one was that he was still standing and staring right at Adrian, forcing him to bear witness as the light wavered and faded in his dying eyes. It was as if what had happened last night was put on repeat. One shot still proved enough, however, and he soon keeled over to reveal the second wide-eyed man that had been hidden behind him.
Adrian stood there, held in place, and kept from immediately delivering justice to the next man. Like a phantom, he was there. The man from last night stood where this one had fallen. An incredible, suffocating weight bore heavy on every square inch of Adrian as his memory's ghost bore that same look of treachery and injustice.
Adrian blinked, and he was gone, taking with him that oppressive constriction upon his mind and body. While nearing upon existential, the specter's hold on him was brief and vanished as soon as it arrived.
Adrian was lucky the other had been too stunned to seize the initiative. Only now did he move to pull his gun, but it was far too late to save him.
Adrian leveled his aim at the panicked man as he tried to grab at his own gun and dropped him before he had the chance as a few rounds rang true, hitting center mass. His last mark on the world was a short and pained cry that made Adrian wince more than the resounding blasts of his gun in this small room. He wasn't even afforded a moment of silence after the fact.
"A power struggle already?" Jules murmured, drawing Adrian's focus to him. "That was quick." He chortled.
His antics didn't last long when he looked up just to see the glimmer of a knife flash by his face as Adrian moved out of sight and behind him.
"Woah! Hey now, hold on there!" He strained, trying to look behind him. "You might have had something against them, but it should be pretty obvious I'm not one of them! I'm actually pretty far from being a threat if you couldn't tell." He sounded panicked as his head shot left and right, trying to catch a glimpse of Adrian.
That panic was soon replaced with surprise when the plastic that bound his hands behind the chair was cut loose.
"Your big mouth is probably what got you here in the first place, and it might stay that way if you keep it up." Adrian said, putting the knife away and going to retrieve a gun from the ground.
"Am I dead?" Jules asked, seeing Adrian turn around with two guns in hand. "Was I shot? Am I having some sort of death dream thinking Adrian himself has appeared out of thin air and come to my rescue?" He laughed, not believing what was happening.
"Not yet, no. Wouldn't want you getting off that easy." Adrian tossed a Hyperdyne PPZ-49 Vol, a below barrel tube fed SMG, towards Jules' hands which scrambled to catch it. "You've still got a fight ahead of you, Jules." One side of Adrian's mouth curled into a dark grin, and his head tilted forward as he extended his free hand toward him. "You ready?" He asked as Jules studied his new gun and looked up to the hand now held towards him. "Because something big is coming."
Jules looked up at Adrian, who held an expression he couldn't read. Taking a deep breath, Jules reached out and clasped his hand.
"Honestly? No. Fuck no." He struggled to pull himself up, only managing to with Adrian's help. They both froze at the sound of a distant explosion that was too far to be inside the facility itself. "But these cunts have been pretty lousy hosts." Jules looked at Adrian and grew a wicked grin of his own. "And I wouldn't want to let the Royals have all the fun."
